Europe

MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/: The European Union sacrifices its own geo-economic and strategic interests for the sake of immediate wishes in order not to lag behind Washington in the attempts to "punish Russia," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Unfortunately, the EU has chosen the path of sacrificing its own geo-political and strategic interests for the sake of immediate wishes not to lag behind the US in what is called "punishing Russia." We have got accustomed to this," Lavrov said.

PARIS, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) – More than 150 people were arrested yesterday, after hundreds of “Yellow Vest” protesters took to streets, in the centre of Paris, to oppose President Emmanuel Macron’s fiscal, economic and social policies.

Paris police department said, 154 individuals had been detained by 13:00 p.m. local time (1100 GMT), in the capital, for holding screwdrivers, ice axes, cutting pliers and knives.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Saturday reiterated his opposition to taking in asylum seekers from the destroyed Moria refugee camp in Greece, prompting criticism from his government coalition partner the Greens and from the opposition.

The fires at Europe’s largest refugee centre, which left more than 12,000 people without shelter, have returned the spotlight to issue of refugees and migrants coming to the European Union, which has struggled to find a response.

LONDON (Reuters) - Former prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major on Sunday said Britain must drop a “shocking” plan to pass legislation that breaks its divorce treaty with the European Union, in a breach of international law.

The British government said explicitly last week that it plans to break international law by breaching parts of the Withdrawal Agreement treaty that it signed in January, when it formally left the EU.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Euro zone governments must keep spending heavily to aid the bloc’s recovery from its historic pandemic-induced recession, complementing already super-easy monetary policy, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Sunday.

With debt levels blowing past 100% of GDP this year, concerns are rising that politicians will struggle to push through more support and some subsidies, raising the risk that employment and income schemes could abruptly end.

ATHENS, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Saturday a new package of economic measures aimed to alleviate society's strain from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, reforms to keep Greece firmly on the growth trajectory, as well as fresh defense expenditure to further boost the country's deterrent ability.

LONDON, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Almost 8 million Britons will be subjected to tighter lockdown restrictions next week after fresh measures were imposed in the West Midlands and Scotland, local media reported Saturday.

From Tuesday, households in Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull will be banned from mixing after the region reported a surge in coronavirus cases, according to the Evening Standard newspaper.

Further north, Lanarkshire joins areas around Glasgow subject to tougher controls, with the new rules in force as of midnight on Friday.

LONDON (AP) — Oxford University announced Saturday it was resuming a trial for a coronavirus vaccine it is developing with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, a move that comes days after the study was suspended following a reported side-effect in a U.K. patient.

In a statement, the university confirmed the restart across all of its U.K. clinical trial sites after regulators gave the go-ahead following the pause on Sunday.

12 Sep 2020; MEMO: Despairing migrants left without shelter on the island of Lesbos after a fire destroyed Greece’s biggest refugee camp faced off against police on Friday as authorities began setting up hundreds of tents to try to contain the crisis, Reuters reported.

MOSCOW, September 12. /TASS/: Election silence starts in most Russian regions on the eve of the single voting day. Elections at various levels will be held in 83 regions of Russia on September 13. Election silence starts in every election region at midnight local time on September 12.