Europe

VATICAN CITY (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday received VIP treatment at the Vatican, getting a private tour of the Sistine Chapel before he sat down for closed-door talks with Pope Francis.

Blinken was the first high-level official of President Joe Biden’s administration to have a private audience with the pontiff.

There was no immediate details from either side about the discussions in the Apostolic Palace.

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief, in a landmark report launched after the killing of George Floyd in the United States, is urging countries worldwide to do more to help end discrimination, violence and systemic racism against people of African descent and “make amends” to them — including through reparations.

MINSK, June 27. /TASS/: A Belarusian emergencies ministry helicopter had a crash landing in the Brest region, no one was hurt, BelTA reported on Sunday, citing the country’s emergencies ministry.

"A Mi-2 helicopter of the Belarusian emergencies ministry, which was on a forest surveying mission, made a crash landing near the village of Chderebasovo, Brest region. The crew of two managed to leave the rotorcraft. They were not hurt but, nevertheless, will be examined by medics," it said.

The helicopter received mechanical damages. An investigation is underway.

PRAGUE, June 27. /TASS/: The decision on how to develop relations with Russia should be made by the Czech Republic’s government, which will be established after the October elections to the lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek said on Sunday.

"I don’t think that it is possible to allow an idea that we won’t have relations with Russia," Kulhanek told the Czech News Agency.

MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/: A Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket, scheduled to blast off on June 30, has been installed on the launch pad of the Baikonur spaceport, Russia’s Roscosmos space corporation said on Sunday.

"In accordance with the decision of the state commission, on June 27, 2021 the space rocket was delivered to the launch pad of site 31," the state corporation said in a statement.

MOSCOW, June 27. / TASS /: Russia’s weekly COVID-19 death toll surged by 3,921, an all-time high since the start of the pandemic, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

The previous record high of 3,920 COVID-19 fatalities was registered in late December 2020.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus mortality rate remained practically unchanged. Over the past week, the figure climbed from 2.43% to 2.44%, according to TASS estimates.

MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/: NATO countries’ steps have forced Ukraine to fully lose its sovereignty and set Ukrainians against each other and now they have decided to recall about legal restrictions for the accession to the alliance, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on Sunday.

ATHENS, Jun 27 (NNN-AMNA) – Greece and India agreed to work towards the establishment of a strategic partnership, during Indian External Affairs Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s visit to Athens, according to an e-mailed joint press release, issued yesterday, after talks here.

Jaishankar is the first Indian foreign minister, paying an official visit to Greece in 18 years, opening new prospects for consolidation and upgrading of relations between Greece and India, in a number of areas of common interest, the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - Britain's government will investigate how footage of former minister Matt Hancock kissing his aide found its way into the media and forced his resignation, in the latest scandal to hit Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government.

After first rejecting calls for Hancock to be sacked or resign as health minister after pictures were published of him embracing a woman he had appointed to a taxpayer-funded role, Johnson accepted his decision to step down on Saturday.

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has released two women's rights activists detained nearly three years ago after they had served their time, London-based Saudi rights group ALQST said on Sunday.

Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah were detained in July 2018, along with more than a dozen other activists, on suspicion of harming Saudi interests, a move that drew international condemnation.