Europe

London, Sept 21, IRNA - Director General of the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi on Monday once again welcomed the agreement between the Agency and Iran, hoping the agreement will reinforce cooperation and enhance mutual trust.

Grossi made the remarks in a statement to the 64th Regular Session of IAEA General Conference.

“I report regularly to the Board of Governors on Iran’s implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” Grossi said.

PRAGUE, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Czech Minister of Health Adam Vojtech said on Monday he is to resign to create space for a solution to the country's spiraling COVID-19 caseload, local media has reported.

"After careful consideration of the current situation, I decided to resign as minister of health," Vojtech said, adding that he had already submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

Saying he had done his utmost to manage the pandemic, Vojtech added that he had "nothing to be ashamed of."

MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/: More than 60,000 people have applied to volunteer for the coronavirus vaccine trials in Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in an interview with Nedelya v Gorode program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Over 60,000 people have signed up as volunteers, several thousand people have passed the required medical tests to be registered as potential candidates for carrying out the tests," Sobyanin said.

More than 700 people have been injected with the coronavirus vaccine and "all of them are feeling good," he said.

MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/: Russia’s coronavirus spread rate on Sunday grew to 1.08 and in Moscow it climbed to 1.14, according to TASS estimates based on the anti-coronavirus crisis center’s data.

This is a record high figure for the country and the capital since May 8.

MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/: Russia plans to send its own mission to Venus in addition to the planned joint mission with the USA "Venera-D," head of Russian space corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin told reporters on Tuesday during the HeliRussia-2020 exhibition.

MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has described the dialogue between the Russian and Belarusian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, as rather trust-based.

"This dialogue is rather trust-based and at the same time it is very substantive. That’s because both know well the details of bilateral relations," Peskov said in an interview with the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/: Russia resumes passenger air service with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and South Korea and lift the entry ban for these country’s nationals on a reciprocal basis, the government’s press service said on Sunday citing a corresponding government resolution.

"Citizens of these states and holders of residence permits can enter Russia via airport checkpoints. Russians, in turn, can fly to any of these states unimpeded," it said.

(Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people marched through Minsk on Sunday chanting “go away” on the sixth straight weekend of protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, keeping up the pressure on the veteran Belarusian leader to quit.

At least 10 people were detained, Russia’s TASS news agency quoted police as saying.

Videos shared by local media outlets showed security forces in helmets or masks hauling protesters off the streets.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is at a tipping point on COVID-19, health minister Matt Hancock said on Sunday, warning that a second national lockdown could be imposed if people don’t follow government rules designed to stop the spread of the virus.

COVID-19 cases have risen sharply in recent weeks to more than 4,000 per day. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called it a second wave and stricter lockdown measures have been introduced in areas across the country - with London possibly next in line.

ROME, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Over 46 million Italians are being called to the polls on Sunday and Monday in a nationwide constitutional referendum on cutting the number of lawmakers in the country's parliament.

Reducing the number of lawmakers is a key platform plank of the Five Star Movement, which currently rules Italy in coalition with the center-left Democratic Party in the government led by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.