Europe

MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/: The Pirs module will be undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on July 26, chief of Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said on Sunday.

"The Pirs module will be undocked from the Russian segment of the ISS at 13:56 Moscow time on July 26 and incombustible elements will fall into the Pacific at 17:51 Moscow time on the same day," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

LUGANSK, July 25. /TASS/: A Ukrainian drone carrying two bombs was intercepted by militias of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), LuganskINformCenter reported on Sunday citing militias’ spokesman Alexander Mazeikin.

According to the spokesman, the drone was intercepted and forced to land "thanks to the well-coordinated actions of the LPR air defense and electronic warfare units with the use of the Triton-M1 station." The drone was carrying "two improvised bombs that were destroyed by LPR field engineers," he said.

MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/: Russia’s new confirmed coronavirus cases grew by 24,072 in the past 24 hours to 6,126,541, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

Russia’s relative coronavirus growth rate equaled 0.39% in the past day, the latest data suggest.

Specifically, 2,191 new coronavirus cases were identified in the Moscow Region, 1,934 in St. Petersburg, 534 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 491 in the Sverdlovsk Region and 484 in the Krasnoyarsk Region in the past 24 hours, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported.

ZHUKOVSKY /Moscow region/, July 25. /TASS/: Contracts to a sum of 265 billion rubles ($3.59 billion) were signed on the sidelines of the MAKS 2021 international aerospace show that took place in Zhukovsky outside Moscow from July 20 through 25, the administration of the event said on Sunday.

"The sum of agreements signed [during the show] is 265 billion rubles," it said, adding that 831 companies from 56 world nations took part in the aerospace show, including in the online format. The program included more than 100 events, more than 350 reports that were heard by 5,000 people.

ATHENS, July 24 (Reuters) - Greek police used teargas and water cannon to disperse people who had gathered in central Athens on Saturday to protest against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations.

More than 4,000 people rallied outside the Greek parliament for a third time this month to oppose mandatory inoculations for some workers, such as healthcare and nursing staff.

A police official, who asked not to be named, said some protesters had thrown petrol bombs, prompting the police to respond with tear gas.

A rally on Wednesday was also marred by violence. 

BERLIN, July 25 (Reuters) - Germany's conservative candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor apologised on Sunday for laughing on a visit to a flood-stricken town last week, a gaffe that has hit his ratings two months before a federal election.

Armin Laschet's conservative bloc is around 10 points ahead of the Greens in most polls, but his lapse last weekend at Erftstadt, when he was caught on camera laughing at a joke while the country's president was giving a sombre speech, has cost him.

LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - British health minister Sajid Javid apologised for and deleted a tweet urging people to take a COVID-19 vaccine and not to "cower" from the virus, saying on Sunday he had made "a poor choice of word".

Javid, who replaced Matt Hancock as health minister last month after his predecessor stepped down for breaking COVID rules by kissing an aide in his office, had been criticised for using the word "cower" when tens of thousands in Britain have died from the virus and many are trying to keep safe.

MOSCOW, July 25 (Reuters) - The Russian navy can detect any enemy and launch an "unpreventable strike" if needed, President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday, weeks after a UK warship angered Moscow by passing the Crimea peninsula.

"We are capable of detecting any underwater, above-water, airborne enemy and, if required, carry out an unpreventable strike against it," Putin said speaking at a navy day parade in St Petersburg.

23 July 2021; MEMO: An anti-Islam activist and founder of the far-right English Defence League has been ordered by a British court to pay £100,000 ($137,300) in libel damages to Syrian schoolboy Jamal Hijazi. The 18 year old won his case against Tommy Robinson after a two-year court battle that could bankrupt the far-right extremist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

25 July 2021; MEMO: French President Emmanuel Macron demanded from Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett an official explanation for the Pegasus spyware developed by the Israel-based NSO Group during a telephone conversation Saturday, reports Anadou Agency.