Europe

OLBIA, Italy July 17 (Reuters) - Forces in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region have released around 1,000 government soldiers captured during recent fighting, the head of its ruling party said, as both sides prepared for a showdown over contested land in the west of the region.

Debretsion Gebremichael, leader of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), told Reuters by satellite phone late on Friday that they have released 1,000 low-ranking soldiers.

"More than 5,000 (soldiers) are still with us, and we will keep the senior officers who will face trial," he said.

GENEVA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The list of human rights crimes committed by the United States at home and abroad is too long to draw, and the U.S. should face up to and address its own human rights abuses, said a statement issued on Friday by the Chinese Mission to UN at Geneva.

In response to an earlier statement issued by the U.S. Mission in Geneva which criticized China on human rights issues, the Chinese mission said that the U.S. is playing a game of being the thief crying "stop thief".

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — In Iran, the urgency of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is growing by the day.

A crush of new cases fueled by the fast-spreading delta variant has threatened to overwhelm Iranian hospitals with breathless patients too numerous to handle. But as deaths mount, and the sense swells that protection for most citizens remains far-off, thousands of desperate Iranians are taking matters into their own hands: They’re flocking to neighboring Armenia.

PARIS (AP) — France will allow international travelers who have had AstraZeneca’s Indian-manufactured vaccine into the country starting Sunday.

At the same time, France is tightening border checks to control the spread of the delta variant and protect hospitals, according to a statement from the prime minister Saturday.

The move to accept visitors vaccinated with AstraZeneca’s vaccine made by India’s Serum Institute came after a global outcry over the fact that the European Union’s COVID-19 certificate only recognizes AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured in Europe.

LONDON (AP) — Tourists and the travel industry vented frustration and anger on Saturday after Britain reversed a plan to ease travel restrictions on France just two days after they were due to start, citing concerns about a variant of the coronavirus.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian aircraft makers say they will present a prospective new fighter jet at a Moscow air show that opens next week.

The new warplane hidden under tarpaulin was photographed being towed to a parking spot across an airfield in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, where the MAKS-2021 International Aviation and Space Salon opens Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit the show’s opening.

Russian media reports said that the new jet has been built by the Sukhoi aircraft maker in a program of development of a light tactical fighter.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Just as the European Union was announcing plans to spend billions of euros to contain climate change, massive clouds gathered over Germany and nearby nations to unleash an unprecedented storm that left death and destruction in its wake.

Despite ample warnings, politicians and weather forecasters were shocked at the ferocity of the precipitation that caused flash flooding that claimed more than 150 lives this week in the lush rolling hills of Western Europe.

MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/: The Delta variant of the coronavirus accounts for nearly 68% of new cases in July, Anna Popova, chief of Russia’s sanitary watchdog, said on Friday.

"According to the results of the molecular and genetic monitoring, the Delta strain occurrence has gone up from sporadic finds in April, to 41% in June and to 67.9% in July. It means that it currently accounts for around 70% of cases," she said.

MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/: The Almaz-Antey defense manufacturer will demonstrate its new counter-drone systems and other technological innovations that ensure air traffic safety at the MAKS-2021 International Air Show scheduled for late July, the company’s press office announced on Friday.

This year, the MAKS-2021 aerospace show will run in the suburban town of Zhukovsky outside Moscow on July 20-25.

MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/: More than two million people were vaccinated against the novel coronavirus infection in the past month, Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin said on Friday.

"Some 1.7 million people were inoculated with the first dose over the previous six months and more than two million - in the past month alone," he said.

According to the Moscow mayor, around 3.8 million people in Moscow have received the first shot of the jab and more than two million have received both shots.