Europe

MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/: Head of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin suggested creating a special module for tourists on the future Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS).

The Roscosmos Scientific and Technical Council discussed the ROSS architecture at its meeting on July 31, Rogozin said.

"I suggested that the project should include the creation of a separate module for visitors," the Roscosmos chief said during his lecture at the Summer Space School.

MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/: Twenty-four Russians are in the list of the top 500 wealthiest individuals rating, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Severstal steelmaker’s owner Alexei Mordashov added $6.14 bln since 2021 year-start and has a total wealth of $29.2 bln. CEO of the Russian gas producer Novatek Leonid Mikhelson earned $5.82 bln and saw his wealth increase to $30.6 bln. Vladimir Lisin, the owner of NLMK steelmaker, grew his wealth by $5.48 bln to $29.3 bln.

MARSEILLE, Aug 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rescue ships picked up more than 700 people trying to cross the Mediterranean in makeshift vessels this weekend, mainly off the coasts of Libya and Malta, a migrant aid group said.

The latest figures came as UN migration officials repeated their calls for a fairer mechanism to share out the responsibility of caring for them, rather than leaving it to the Mediterranean countries.

SOS Mediterranee said that its vessel, the Ocean Viking, had carried out six separate operations in international waters since Saturday.

BRUSSELS, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Monday it has imposed sanctions on eight Nicaraguans for human rights violations or undermining democracy or the rule of law, including Rosario Murillo, the vice president and wife of President Daniel Ortega.

The step adds to growing international isolation of Ortega's government, which has been criticized for crackdowns against his opponents and critical media in the Central American country he has dominated since returning to power 15 years ago.

BERLIN, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Germany on Monday sent a warship to the South China Sea for the first time in almost two decades, joining other Western nations in expanding its military presence in the region amid growing alarm over China's territorial ambitions.

China claims swathes of the South China Sea and has established military outposts on artificial islands in the waters that contain gas fields and rich fishing.

LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that he wanted to get the travel industry moving again with a simple user-friendly system of rules to allow for trips abroad.

"We need to get people, get the travel industry moving again," Johnson told reporters.

"We want an approach that is as simple as we can possibly make it."

Britain reopened its borders to large parts of the world on Monday, scrapping quarantine for fully vaccinated arrivals from the European Union, excluding France, and the United States. L8N2P923E

LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - England's COVID-19 mobile phone app will be tweaked so that fewer contacts of asymptomatic people who test positive for the disease will need to self-isolate, Britain's health ministry said on Monday.

Business leaders have raised concerns about the numbers of staff who are having to self-isolate after being "pinged" by the app when they come into contact with someone who then tests positive for COVID-19.

02 Aug 2021; MEMO: Around 250 cyclists went to London yesterday as the Big Ride for Palestine completed the final stage of the journey from Bristol to the capital raising awareness of the Palestinian cause and funds for children in the Gaza Strip. Crowds welcomed the riders along the way in Swindon, Oxford and Luton, with receptions featuring local mayors, councillors and trade union officials.

LONDON, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- The work plan of the World Health Organization (WHO) on the second phase of investigation into the origins of COVID-19 is politicized and lacks a spirit of cooperation, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Britain said Sunday.

Responding to the question of why China rejected the WHO's work plan, the spokesperson said the plan "was heavily disrupted by politicization and was a document that lost scientific principles and lacked a spirit of cooperation."

MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/: The United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is among the world’s top three strongest and most authoritative intelligence services, along with Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, director of the Russian Service, said on Sunday.