Europe

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The vast and empty Chernobyl Exclusion Zone around the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident is a baleful monument to human mistakes. Yet 35 years after a power plant reactor exploded, Ukrainians also look to it for inspiration, solace and income.

Reactor No. 4 at the power plant 110 kilometers (65 miles) north of the capital Kyiv exploded and caught fire deep in the night on April 26, 1986, shattering the building and spewing radioactive material high into the sky.

BERLIN, April 25. /TASS/: German Minister of Economy and Energy Peter Altmeier believes it would be wrong to connect the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project and the situation surrounding Russian blogger Alexey Navalny.

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/: Russia is prepared to take new retaliatory measures against the US if Washington keeps the escalation path, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Everything was said in our response to the latest unfriendly US steps. We announced all measures, which have been taken and are ready to take more if this escalation continues," Lavrov said.

PRAGUE, April 25. /TASS/: The evidence that some "Russian agents" were present at the ammo depot in the village of Vrbetice was not mentioned in the reports of the Czech Republic’s Security Information Service, Czech President Milos Zeman said in his emergency televised address in connection with the 2014 incident on Sunday.

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden are likely to hold a meeting in June, but the final decision will depend on many factors, Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

According to Ushakov, signals are coming from Washington on the plans to hold the meeting of the leaders. However, he noted that there was no discussion on the summit at a working level. "Not yet [discussion at a working level] but the signal has been received, we will consider this," he said.

LONDON, April 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police in London said they arrested five people, and eight officers were injured, after disorder at large-scale protests against England’s remaining coronavirus restrictions, the mandatory use of masks and possible introduction of so-called vaccine passports.

Demonstrators had gathered early Saturday afternoon and marched along several major arteries, including the main shopping district Oxford Street, with videos and photos showing thousands in attendance.

(Reuters) --- The Tunisian national who killed a police administrative worker last Friday near Paris had watched religious videos glorifying acts of jihad just before carrying out his attack, said France's anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard.

The murder has shocked France, which faces a presidential election next year at which issues such as fears over terrorist attacks, immigration and violent crime will dominate the agenda.

(Reuters) --- Germany's Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday the opposition Greens candidate for chancellor, Annalena Baerbock, lacked political experience and said he was better placed to lead Europe's largest economy after a Sept. 26 election.

The Greens said last week Baerbock would run to become chancellor, the first time the left-leaning ecologist party has sought the top job in its 40-year history.

(Reuters) --- Italy has joined other countries by imposing restrictions on travel from India to avert the spread of a COVID-19 variant as the Asian nation struggles with a surge in infections.

Italy's Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Twitter he had signed an order barring foreign travellers who have been in India in the past 14 days from entering the country.

(Reuters) --- The European Union will be able to produce enough vaccines to achieve its target for immunity of its adult population by the middle of July, the EU executive's vaccine task force chief said in an interview with a Greek newspaper published on Sunday.

The European Commission has set a target of inoculating 70% of the EU's adult population by the end of this summer, banking on a big increase in vaccine deliveries to accelerate its vaccination drive.