Europe

LISBON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was inaugurated on Tuesday for his second term as head of state, promising "good use of European funds, with good management" of financial resources to help the country's post-pandemic recovery.

Addressing Parliament, he said that his mission will be to end fear, "restore the confidence of the Portuguese people" and restore the "balance of health services."

In his oath of office, Rebelo de Sousa pledged to "defend, comply and enforce the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic."

LONDON (AP) — Buckingham Palace said Tuesday that allegations of racism made earlier this week by Prince Harry and Meghan were “concerning” and would be addressed privately by the royal family.

The comments, made in a statement issued on behalf Queen Elizabeth II, are the first from the palace since the two-hour television interview with Meghan and Harry rocked the royal family.

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/: Russia appreciates cooperation with the United States in outer space and hopes it will be continued, the Russian president’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"We appreciate the Russian-US cooperation in the outer space. We hope it will be continued and hope it will not fall victim to various Russophobic manifestations," he said, commenting on the words by General John Raymond, US Space Force's chief of space operations, that Russia’s and China’s capabilities in outer space cause serious concern to Washington.

MINSK, March 9. /TASS/: The work on Russian-Belarusian integration is aimed to raise joint competitiveness, Russian Ambassador to Belarus Dmitry Mezentsev said in an interview with the RBC TV channel shown on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/: The administration of US President Joe Biden will increase pressure on China in a number of areas, Director of the Institute of the Far East at the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexey Maslov said during an online conference organized by the Valdai Discussion Club and the Center for Russia-China Strategic Interaction under the CITIC Foundation for Reform and Development Studies of China.

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 9,445 to 4,342,747 in the past 24 hours, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Tuesday. The number of daily coronavirus cases dropped below 10,000 for the first time since October 3.

Russia’s coronavirus growth rate stands at 0.22%.

The rate is the lowest in the Altai region (0.01%) and the Tuva region (0.03%).

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized the remark by European Medicines Agency (EMA) Chairwoman Christa Wirthumer-Hoche, who compared the idea of emergency authorizations of the Sputnik V vaccine to "playing Russian roulette," as incorrect and regrettable.

"As for this regrettable statement, it is incorrect to say the least. The demand for the vaccine and the vaccination campaigns in many countries indicate its relevance and popularity," Peskov told journalists Tuesday.

BRUSSELS, March 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The European Union said it was working to secure a big increase in Covid-19 vaccine supplies to improve its slow roll-out, as the United States denounced what it called a Russian disinformation campaign.

The urgency of the global vaccine push was underlined by Latin America hitting 700,000 pandemic deaths, and Italy alone announcing that its toll had topped 100,000.

08 Mar 2021; MEMO: The European Union has backed the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its decision to open a formal investigation into war crimes committed in occupied Palestine in comments that appear to rebuke Israel and its key ally the US. Both have condemned The Hague for ruling that it has jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territories.

08 Mar 2021; MEMO: The EU is ready to provide "whatever assistance" it can to Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders and the UN, and it also needs to become involved in the UN-led talks on Cyprus, as the Cyprus issue is an "EU problem," said the bloc's foreign policy chief on Monday, Anadolu Agency reported.