Europe

(Reuters) --- Ukrainian prosecutors asked a Kyiv court on Thursday to set bail for prominent pro-Russian lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk at 300 million hryvnia ($10.85 million) or detain him in a treason case.

Medvedchuk, who promotes closer ties with Moscow and says President Vladimir Putin is godfather to his daughter, is widely seen as Russia's most prominent political ally in Kyiv.

(Reuters) --- A French move to delay a European Union financial services deal with Britain over fishing access is another example of the bloc issuing threats at any sign of difficulty, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday.

Paris has said it will delay the financial services deal until Johnson grants EU fishermen fair access to British waters, a source familiar with the French move said on Wednesday. 

KIEV, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has adopted a resolution to establish the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine to combat offenses undermining the state economy, Ukrinform news agency reported Wednesday.

As a central executive body, the bureau will be directed by the Cabinet of Ministers, with the bureau director appointed by the government on the proposal of the prime minister.

BERLIN, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The German government eased entry restrictions for travelers on Wednesday, allowing people who have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from the coronavirus to enter the country without any quarantine obligation.

From now on, vaccinated and/or recovered travelers will be "treated the same way as those who have been tested," according to the government.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: No cases of India’s COVID-19 variant have been detected in Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told reporters on Wednesday.

"No," she said in response to a corresponding question.

Golikova pointed out that Russia’s vaccines are effective against those variants.

"Maybe not as [effective] as against the reference strain, which we have already gotten used to, but nevertheless, studies prove that we are protected," the deputy prime minister assured.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: Over 24 mln Russians have completed the first stage of COVID-19 vaccination or received both doses of the vaccine already, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said delivering a report on the government’s work in 2020 in the Russian State Duma (lower house) on Wednesday.

He recalled that Russia had launched voluntary free mass vaccination in late 2020. "By now, over 24 mln people have completed various stages of vaccination," the PM said.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: Moscow has no plans to interfere in Ukraine’s case against Chairman of the Political Council of the Opposition Platform - For Life party Viktor Medvedchuk but would like to make sure that the case is not politically motivated, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: No specific complications have been found after people have been inoculated with the Sputnik Light one-dose coronavirus vaccine, said Fyodor Lisitsyn, a leading specialist with the Virology Institute at the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, on Wednesday.

"There are no complications so far, except for the usual temperature increase among 7% of patients… There are no other specific complications," the expert said in a live broadcast on the Doktor TV Channel.

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/: A Russian Su-27 fighter jet was scrambled to intercept two Mirage 2000 tactical combat planes and a C-135 aerial refueling tanker of the French Air Force over the Black Sea, Russia’s National Defense Control Center reported on Wednesday.

"The Russian fighter’s pilot identified the aerial targets as two Mirage 2000 tactical aircraft and a C-135 aerial refueling tanker of the French Air Force and shadowed them over the Black Sea," the statement says.

VALLETTA, May 12 (NNN-Xinhua) — A group of around 70 migrants were brought to Malta after being rescued to the south of the island on Monday night following a distress call, a spokesperson from the Home Affairs Ministry said Tuesday.

The spokesperson gave no further details, including the nationalities of the illegal migrants.