Europe

KIEV, March 5. /TASS/: Among politicians, Ukrainians trust President Vladimir Zelensky the most, says a poll by the Kiev-based Rating Sociological Group, published Friday.

The survey took place on March 2-3 and covered 2,500 randomly chosen respondents aged above 18 in all regions except those not under Kiev’s control.

"A total of 43% of respondents stated their trust to Vladimir Zelensky; 55% of respondents said they distrust the president," the poll says.

KIEV, March 5. /TASS/: Kiev will not register Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine under any circumstances, Ukrainian Health Minister Maxim Stepanov vowed Friday.

"Under no circumstances will the Russian Sputnik V vaccine be registered in Ukraine. You will not persuade me to do it by any argument," he underscored, speaking in Verkhovna Rada (parliament).

Commenting on a lawmaker’s remark that other countries use the Russian vaccine, Stepanov claimed that "Russia did not take other countries’ territory."

MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/: Moscow will soon publish a blacklist in response to US sanctions, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Channel One’s Vremya Pokazhet (or Time Will Tell) show on Friday.

"Given how they [the Americans] are acting, including the fact that they published all lists at once, I think that we will cheer them up soon. Work is underway. Don’t think that noting is being done if we aren’t talking about it," she said when asked when Russia would respond to US sanctions over the situation around blogger Alexey Navalny.

MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/: The EpiVacCorona coronavirus vaccine, developed by Russia’s State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector, has been approved for people over 60, the national consumer health watchdog said in a statement on Friday.

"The EpiVacCorona vaccine has successfully finished phase three and four clinical trials among people over the age of 60. The trials proved that it is effective and safe for elderly people. That said, EpiVacCorona has been approved for people aged over 60," the statement reads.

ATHENS, March 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A new earthquake hit central Greece near the city of Larissa on Thursday, the same region where an even stronger tremor left 11 people injured the day before, the Athens seismological observatory said.

The quake, which the US Geological Survey said was of 5.6 magnitude, caused rock falls close to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Meteora orthodox monasteries in Kalabaka, emergency services said.

No injuries were immediately reported from the new quake, which was felt 20 kilometres from Elassona, near Larissa, the observatory said.

DUSSELDORF (Germany), March 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two Syrian men went on trial in the German city of Dusseldorf on Thursday for an alleged war crime.

The defendants, aged 35 and 43, allegedly took part in the execution of a lieutenant colonel of Syrian government forces in 2012, according to federal prosecutors in Germany.

According to German investigators, the two took the chained and badly abused prisoner to his execution.

One of them then took on a role as guard while the other one filmed and commented on the shooting for propaganda purposes.

GENEVA (Reuters) - At least a dozen people and possibly up to 23 have been killed in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province where Revolutionary Guards and security forces have used lethal force against fuel couriers from ethnic minorities and protesters, the United Nations said on Friday.

Iran is investigating an incident in which at least two Iranians were shot dead this week at the border with Pakistan, and Islamabad has handed over the body of one of the victims, the Iranian foreign ministry said a week ago.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped more than 2% on Friday, hitting their highest in nearly 14 months after OPEC and its allies agreed not to increase supply in April as they await a more substantial recovery in demand.

Brent crude futures were up $1.52, or 2.3%, at $68.26 a barrel by 1008 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed $1.30, or 2%, to $65.13 as both remained on track for weekly gains.

RIGA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Latvian armed forces on Thursday blew up a huge ice congestion in one of the Baltic country's largest rivers that had threatened to cause major floods in the area.

The ice blasting operation was announced after the ice jam near the central Latvian municipality of Carnikava caused water levels in the River Gauja to rise dangerously this week.

On Wednesday, the swelling river had already inundated nearby meadows and some local residents reported that it had flooded their garages.

04 Mar 2021; MEMO: The Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights, Anna Kuznetsova, has revealed that her country has repatriated 145 Russian children of former Daesh militants from Syria and Iraq since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.