Europe

21 May 2021; MEMO: President Vladimir Putin yesterday ordered the voluntary evacuation of Russian citizens from the occupied Gaza Strip.

According to RT, Putin instructed the Russian Foreign Ministry to envisage a "possible" evacuation of any citizens or personnel trapped by the Israeli military offensive against Gaza.

20 May 2021; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces continue to attack the Gaza Strip killing at least 200 Palestinians including 70 children. The Occupation authorities are also practicing serious violations against the Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah's neighbourhood, which is also a blatant breach of laws, treaties, and international conventions.

Al Aqsa Mosque also has been raided by Israeli settlers, and police forces recently

21 May 2021; MEMO: British Labour Party MP Richard Burgon asked the House of Commons yesterday how many more Palestinian civilian casualties it will take before the government takes action to stop Israeli war crimes.

ROME, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The Italian government on Thursday approved a 40-billion-euros (48.9 billion U.S. dollars) relief package to support the country's businesses and workers affected by the COVID-19 restrictions.

The new relief measures included 17 billion euros of financial aid to companies, and nine billion euros for business credit support, according to Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

Another four billion euros will be destined to the labor market, with various measures to support the most vulnerable workers and unemployed people.

HELSINKI, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of the eight-member Arctic Council adopted on Thursday a first 10-year strategic plan for the region, in addition to the signing of a Reykjavik Declaration, to mark the Council's 25th anniversary.

The plan reflects the shared values and joint aspirations of the Arctic States and the Permanent Participants, to advance sustainable development, environmental protection, and good governance in the Arctic, said the Council.

BRUSSELS, May 20 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson of the Chinese Mission to the European Union (EU) said late on Thursday that the China-EU investment agreement is a balanced agreement, not a gift.

The spokesperson made the remarks when responding to a question regarding a resolution adopted by the European Parliament earlier Thursday, which stated that any consideration or discussion on the ratification of the China-EU investment agreement has been frozen before China lifts the sanctions.

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: The European Robotic Arm (ERA) has been installed on Russia’s Nauka (Science) multifunctional laboratory module, which will travel to the International Space Station in July, the State Space Corporation Roscosmos announced on Thursday.

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: The state of Russian-speaking residents in Estonia continues to decline sharply according to the information in a report by the Baltic state’s Ministry of Culture on the outcome of monitoring integration policy, which was cited in a commentary by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made public Thursday.

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: Russia confirmed 9,232 COVID-19 cases over the past day, bringing the total caseload to 4,974,908, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Thursday.

The number of cases grew 0.19% in relative terms. The lowest growth rates were recorded over the past day in the Nenets Autonomous Region (0%), the Tuva Republic (0.03%) and the Jewish Autonomous Region (0.04%).

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: Deputy Speaker of the Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) Konstantin Kosachev has positively assessed the first face-to-face talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, noting that their best follow-up would be resuming the majority of previous formats.