Europe

(Reuters) --- Disagreements over intellectual property rights mean Germany, France and Spain have yet to agree the next steps for a joint fighter jet project, the defence ministry in Berlin said on Saturday after a deadline to find a solution ran out.

Last week, the defence ministers of Germany and France set an end-April deadline to broker a deal over the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), Europe's largest defence project.

MOSCOW, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that eight officials from the European Union (EU)'s bodies and member countries are banned from entering Russia in retaliation.

The sanctioned figures include President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, and European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova.

VIENNA (AP) — High-ranking diplomats from China, Germany, France, Russia and Britain are set to resume talks Saturday focused on bringing the United States back into their landmark nuclear deal with Iran.

The U.S. will not have a representative at the table when the diplomats meet in Vienna because former President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the country out of the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2018. Trump also restored and augmented sanctions to try to force Iran into renegotiating the pact with more concessions.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary on Saturday loosened several COVID-19 restrictions for people with government-issued immunity cards, the latest in a series of reopening measures that have followed an ambitious vaccination campaign.

As of Saturday, individuals with the plastic cards may enter indoor dining rooms, hotels, theaters, cinemas, spas, gyms, libraries, museums and other recreational venues. Opening hours for businesses were extended to 11 p.m. and an overnight curfew in place since November will now start later, at midnight.

LUGANSK, April 30. /TASS/: Ukraine unilaterally and without prior notification stopped passage of people through the Stanitsa Luganskaya checkpoint on the contact line in Donbass, the Ministry of State Security (MGB) of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) announced Friday.

KAZAN, April 30. /TASS/: The Caribbean island nation is interested in holding talks with member-states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) on expanding air service, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said on Friday in his video address to participants of the EAEU Intergovernmental Council.

MINSK, April 30. /TASS/: The Belarusian Defense Ministry has said it has identified a second air intrusion from Poland this month.

MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/: Turkey has approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use in the republic, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) informs.

"The Russian Direct Investment Fund announces the registration of the Russian coronavirus vaccine "Sputnik V" by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey. Registration was carried out within the emergency use authorization (EUA) procedure. Turkey has become the 63rd country to approve the use of Sputnik V," the fund stated.

MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has proposed that Russian President Vladimir Putin consider Vienna as a potential venue for a Russian-US summit, according to the Kremlin press service, reporting on the outcome of the phone conversation between Putin and Kurz on Friday.

"The federal chancellor offered to consider Vienna as a venue for a potential Russian-US summit, if there is an agreement to hold it," the Kremlin revealed.

LONDON, Apr 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) – British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is facing a new investigation into the cost of redecoration of his Downing Street apartment, British media reported yesterday.

Britain’s electoral watchdog, Electoral Commission, opened a probe into whether an alleged donation to Conservative party funds, intended to pay for the revamp of Johnson’s flat, should have been declared.

The watchdog said, the probe would find out how the cost of the work was paid for and suspected that an offence may have occurred.