Europe

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders asked their Brussels-based executive on Friday to name strategic areas where the bloc relies too much on countries such as China and the United States, and to propose ways to make amends.

EU leaders said their industry needed to be more competitive, autonomous and resilient after the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the bloc’s dependence on Chinese components in the production of drugs.

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Friday Britain must respect the Brexit arrangements it had agreed with the European Union for the sensitive Irish border, after a fraught week with little progress towards a new UK-EU trade deal.

With just under two weeks before Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s deadline for reaching a trade agreement, both sides said there were still significant hurdles to finding a way to smooth relations when a transition arrangement ends this year.

DUBLIN, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Ireland He Xiangdong said on Thursday that China is grateful for the kind help offered by the Irish people and government in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and is now willing to work together with Ireland as well as all other countries to win the battle against the pandemic.

The Chinese ambassador made the remark while delivering a speech at an online event to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, which both fell on Thursday.

MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/: The Russian military will get a new line of artillery pieces and mortars on different types of chassis, being developed within the framework of the research and development program Nabrosok (Sketch), the ground forces' commander-in-chief, General of the Army Oleg Salyukov, told the government-published Rossiyskaya Gazeta in an interview.

MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/: Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Donald Trump of the United States and Emmanuel Macron of France in a joint statement have called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict without preconditions.

"We also call on the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to commit without delay to resuming substantive negotiations, in good faith and without preconditions, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/: Western intelligence agencies, namely the US Central Intelligence Agency, are working with blogger Alexey Navalny, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"It’s not the patient [Navalny] that is working with Western intelligence agencies but Western intelligence agencies are working with him," Peskov said.

"Indeed, there is information about it and I can specify that experts from the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency are working with him," the Kremlin spokesman emphasized.

MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/: A small-size missile for the air defense system Tor-M2 is being created in Russia as a counter-weapon against tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), the commander-in-chief of Russia's ground forces, General of the Army Oleg Salyukov, told the government-published daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta in an interview.

MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/: The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) issued a permit to Nord Stream 2 AG for operation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline on the country’s shelf subject to certain conditions providing for safe operation of gas pipelines, the regulator said on Thursday.

"The Danish Energy Agency has granted a permit to Nord Stream 2 AG to operate a section of the Nord Stream 2 pipelines on a number of conditions to ensure a safe operation of the pipelines," DEA said.

30 Sep 2020; MEMO: The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) yesterday announced that it had agreed to supply Egypt with 25 million doses of its Sputnik-V coronavirus vaccine through Pharco, one of the leading pharmaceutical groups in Egypt.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has clear red lines that it will not cross in talks with the European Union, Michael Gove, the minister handling Brexit divorce issues for Britain, said on Thursday, adding that he believed with goodwill an agreement could be reached.

“Progress has been made in a huge number of areas, but ... there is still one or two sticking points on state aid, the level playing field and fisheries,” Gove told parliament.