Europe

MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/: Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov opened the ISS’ Poisk module docking airlock and began their spacewalk within the framework of the integration of the Nauka module. The operation is live streamed at the Roscosmos website.

The cosmonauts must now secure the airlock cap and install the protective ring. After that, Dubrov will be the first to enter the outer space, with Novitsky following. They will need to connect a large amount of various cables and mount rails on the module’s external surface.

MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/: It is still unclear how the situation in Afghanistan will influence the regional and global security, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

"The withdrawal of the Americans and their allies from Afghanistan caused a new crisis situation, and it is still not entirely clear how all this will affect the regional and global security," the head of state said during the BRICS online meeting.

LONDON, Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Environmental groups have called for crucial UN climate talks set to be conducted in Glasgow this year to be postponed amid fears people from poorer countries will not be able to fully take part.

But the British government insists it is rolling out vaccines for foreign delegates and will fund quarantine hotels for those who would not be able to pay as part of efforts to ensure the COP26 conference in November can go ahead.

MOSCOW, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Russia and Belarus formally opened vast joint military drills on Thursday, a week-long exercise across the territory of both countries and in the Baltic Sea that has alarmed some NATO countries.

Top military leaders from the two countries attended the opening ceremony of the war games, called "Zapad-2021", in western Russia where flags were raised and speeches given.

LONDON/PARIS, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Britain has approved plans to turn away boats illegally carrying migrants to its shores, deepening a rift with France over how to deal with a surge of people risking their lives by trying to cross the Channel in small dinghies.

Hundreds of small boats have attempted the journey from France to England this year, across one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. The summer surge happens every year, but is now larger than normal as alternative routes have been shut down.

PARIS, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The main suspect in the 2015 Islamist attack that killed 130 people in Paris disrupted the trial for a second consecutive day on Thursday to make political statements from the dock, prompting the judge to briefly suspend the hearing.

Salah Abdeslam, 31, is believed by prosecutors to be the only surviving member of the Islamic State cell that carried out the gun-and-bomb attacks on bars, restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and the Stade de France stadium on Nov. 13, 2015.

TBILISI, Sept 9 (Reuters) - A top human rights lawyer who defended jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's team and announced this week he had fled Russia accused authorities on Thursday of a mounting campaign to purge the political landscape of people they see as undesirable.

Defence lawyer Ivan Pavlov, 50, gained prominence for taking on politically sensitive cases and defending people charged with treason or espionage by the Federal Security Service, the successor to the Soviet KGB.

BERLIN/FRANKFURT, Sept 9 (Reuters) - German 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.

The probe into the Financial Intelligence Unit, an agency of the finance ministry under Social Democrat chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz, is looking at whether it was told to ignore warnings of suspect payments to Africa.

LONDON (AP) — British airline easyJet said Thursday it rejected an unsolicited takeover approach as it announced plans to raise another 1.2 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) from shareholders to shore up its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, the company said its board had “unanimously” rejected the offer from an unnamed company, which according to widespread speculation in financial markets is thought to have come from rival Hungarian airline Wizz Air.

Wizz Air declined to comment on the speculation.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank will dial back some of its massive emergency pandemic support for the economy amid signs of increasing business activity and consumer readiness to spend as the 19 countries that use the euro rebound from the coronavirus recession.

Bank head Christine Lagarde was careful to say the shift was only a “recalibration” of existing stimulus — not a signal that pandemic support is being phased out.