Europe

ST. PETERSBURG, September 6. /TASS/: The meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden in Geneva brought no drastic changes in relations between Moscow and Washington, the US continues to believe that it can dictate Russia’s domestic agenda, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

MOSCOW, September 6. /TASS/: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 17,856 in the past 24 hours reaching 7,030,455, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Monday.

The relative growth rate stands at 0.25%.

The Moscow Region confirmed 891 daily COVID-19 cases, St. Petersburg - 690, the Sverdlovsk Region — 514, the Rostov Region — 477 and the Voronezh Region — 465.

Currently, 557,458 people in Russia are still undergoing treatment.

MOSCOW, September 6. / TASS /: Guinean Foreign Minister Ibrahima Khalil Kaba will not pay a working visit to Moscow, scheduled for September 6-8, due to the internal situation in his homeland, the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS on Monday.

"The Guinean Foreign Minister’s visit to Russia has been canceled due to the internal situation [in the country]," the Russian diplomatic service said.

MOSCOW, September 6. / TASS /: Russia’s diplomacy is going to keep on combating any attempts, by whomever, to revise the outcome of World War II, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Monday.

MOSCOW, September 6. /TASS/: The last pipe of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline has been welded in the Baltic Sea, after which the pipe will be lowered onto the seabed, Nord Stream 2 AG, the project operator of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, reported on Monday, adding that it plans to put the pipeline into operation by the end of this year.

BRUSSELS, Sept 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The EU and UK-Swedish drug-maker AstraZeneca have settled a row over a shortfall in coronavirus vaccines that affected the European rollout earlier this year.

AstraZeneca has agreed to deliver 200 million doses of its vaccine, which had been promised under a contract, to the EU by the end of March 2022.

The deal puts an end to the EU’s pending action in the Belgian courts.

The EU said this week that 70% of adults had been double vaccinated.

LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to hike taxes to fund social care has provoked fury among many of his own lawmakers, who fear that such a clear violation of his election promises shows he is happy to oversee a sweeping expansion of the state.

After the fiscal splurge on the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson is now addressing Britain's creaking social care system, whose costs will soar as the population ages, while facing numerous other thorny policy matters.

DUBLIN, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Britain is set to announce further extensions to post-Brexit grace periods on some goods imports to Northern Ireland, Irish deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar said on Monday, suggesting London and Brussels had agreed they needed more time for talks.

Ireland is a key player in post-Brexit trade talks and Varadkar, speaking after a meeting with British Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, said he expected the British move to lead towards attempts to reach a more permanent solution.

AMSTERDAM, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Relatives of the 298 victims of Malaysian Airlines flight 17 on Monday accused Russia of lying about its alleged role in the downing of the plane as they began testifying in the Dutch murder trial of four suspects.

International investigators concluded that the passenger plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine with a missile fired by pro-Russian rebels. Moscow denies all responsibility.

BERLIN, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Germany's far-left Linke pitched themselves on Monday as would-be coalition partners for the Social Democrats and Greens after a Sept. 26 election, arguing they offer the two larger parties the best chance of delivering their social policies.

A surge by the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) into a clear lead in polls over Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives has focused attention in Germany and beyond on possible coalition options after the closely fought election.