Europe

14 Oct 2020; MEMO: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas yesterday called on Turkey to refrain from more provocations in the Eastern Mediterranean.

14 Oct 2020; MEMO: A spokesman for the Greek government, Stelios Petsas, said yesterday that his country will not participate in exploratory talks with Turkey as long as the Turkish survey vessel Oruc Reis remains in waters under dispute by the two countries.

“As long as the Oruc Reis is in the area we will not hold exploratory contacts with Turkey,” Petsas said in an interview with Skai Radio.

United Nations, Oct 14 (AP/PTI) China, Russia and Cuba won seats on the UN's premiere human rights body Tuesday despite opposition from activist groups over their abysmal human rights records, but another target, Saudi Arabia, lost.

Russia and Cuba were running unopposed, but China and Saudi Arabia were in a five-way race in the only contested race for seats on the Human Rights Council.

MOSCOW (AP) — A trio of space travelers has launched successfully to the International Space Station, for the first time using a fast-track maneuver to reach the orbiting outpost in just three hours.

NASA’s Kate Rubins along with Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos lifted off as scheduled Wednesday morning from the Russia-leased Baikonur space launch facility in Kazakhstan for a six-month stint on the station.

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian attempt to broker a cease-fire to end the worst outbreak of hostilities over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in more than a quarter-century has failed to get any traction, with rivals Azerbaijan and Armenia trading blame for new attacks.

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/: Infrastructure for deploying two more missile systems Avangard will be finalized at the Orenburg strategic missiles force site by the end of the year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/: The Russian infectious diseases service was not fully prepared to confront the threats posed by the coronavirus pandemic, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, it must be said that the threat models and the orientation of the infectious diseases service did not fully correspond to what we faced," he said at the international online conference titled "Pandemic 2020: Challenges, Solutions, Consequences" at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA).

VILNIUS, October 13. /TASS/: Former Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya announced that the Belarusian opposition intends to move to active actions in two weeks’ time if its demands are not met.

MINSK, Oct 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Belarus threatened to fire on protesters to break up demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko, as EU foreign ministers agreed to impose sanctions personally targeting the strongman leader.

The use of live firearms would mark a major escalation in the two-month standoff between Lukashenko and protesters, who have staged peaceful rallies against his disputed re-election in August and against the abuse and torture of detainees.

13 Oct 2020; MEMO: Greece will build a permanent refugee camp on Lesbos by summer 2021 to replace the facility that burned down last month, the migration minister said yesterday.

Notis Mitarachi said contractors had already been selected to construct the new camps, which will also be built on the islands of Samos, Kos and Leros.

The camps will be closed facilities, with “NATO-style double enclosure” and tightly controlled entry, as well as fire protection systems, Mitarachi said.