Europe

MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has prepared a list of the top countries, where cyber attacks originate, at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin, handing over this list to reporters.

"In the first half of 2020, the leaders among all countries where all types of cyber attacks originated are: the US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, the UK," Peskov said, citing LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

VIENNA, June 17. /TASS/: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has welcomed the results of the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden in his statement to TASS, calling on the EU to maintain dialogue with Moscow and have an open discussion of all existing differences.

MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/: Russia states that tension on the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan has abated in the past few weeks, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"Over the past few weeks, it has been possible to reduce the tension as a whole. The corresponding consultations on settling the border dispute will continue," the Russian diplomat said.

Russia continues active mediatory efforts aimed at de-escalating the situation, the spokeswoman said.

MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/: At least several months are needed for the implementation of agreements reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden in Geneva on June 16, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"Yes, some time is needed to implement the understandings reached during yesterday’s discussion," Peskov said.

MOSCOW, June 17 (Reuters) - Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny mocked President Vladimir Putin on Thursday for accusing him of knowingly breaking the law when he was evacuated from Russia last year in a coma.

Navalny was flown to Germany in August after being poisoned with what German doctors would later say was a military-grade nerve agent. He was unconscious in a coma at the time.

London, Jun 16 (PTI) Around 1 million people in the UK aged 21 and 22 will begin to be called forward on Wednesday to book their coronavirus vaccine, as the National Health Service (NHS) led COVID-19 vaccination programme expanded the age-based rollout to cover further younger categories.

June 16 (Reuters) - Britain is considering easing travel restrictions for double vaccinated people, a move which would placate airlines who are threatening legal action against the government’s strict curbs on trips abroad.

Pressure is building in the aviation industry, with airlines desperate for restrictions to be relaxed in time for July and the peak season when they make most of their profits, but Britain sticking to quarantine requirements which deter travel.

WATTRELOS, France, June 17 (Reuters) - Abdel Denfer gave up on France's traditional political groups and shifted his support to Marine Le Pen's far-right party after a group of Roma were allowed to reside on land near his home.

The pensioner complained the Roma had been a nuisance, burning tires, quarreling with one another and upsetting locals. Their presence was the final straw, he said, after years of broken promises by a political elite that no longer listened.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The presidents of Germany and Poland on Thursday are expected to discuss the future of the European Union and of its trans-Atlantic ties as well as the situation in Ukraine and Belarus as they mark 30 years of a treaty on bilateral relations.

Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was on a brief visit to Warsaw for talks with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, and a meeting with Polish and German young people.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The former president of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, checked in at Belgium’s main airport on Thursday, his lawyer said, ready to fly to his home country for the first time in nearly a decade after being acquitted by the International Criminal Court.

Gbagbo was not seen checking in by waiting media, but lawyer Habiba Toure said that he was finalizing his flight formalities and had headed into the departures area of Brussels airport through a protocol entrance.

A small group of Gbagbo supporters had gathered at the airport to see him off.