Europe

ATHENS, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Malta's Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo on Monday called for dialogue and compromise to de-escalate tension in the Eastern Mediterranean lately, during a visit to Athens.

The other option of a military confrontation in the region would be more painful, he stressed at the joint press conference with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias after their meeting.

GENEVA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Senior World Health Organization (WHO) officials on Monday congratulated the front-line health workers and the people in China for having reached a successful outcome in fighting COVID-19.

"Our deepest congratulations go to the front-line health workers in China and the population who worked together tirelessly to bring the disease to this very low level," said Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, at a routine WHO press briefing.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive commission is proposing its experienced Latvian vice president, Valdis Dombrovskis, to take over the post as trade chief of the bloc following the resignation of Ireland’s Phil Hogan.

Dombrovskis had already been holding the post temporarily since Hogan’s resignation on Aug. 26. He now fills a vital job in dealing with the United States, China and post-Brexit Britain, with all three demanding near daily attention.

“We are currently in turbulent waters,” Dombrovskis said.

Brussels, Sep 8 (AP/PTI) The European Union's executive commission is proposing its experienced Latvian vice president, Valdis Dombrovskis, to take over the post as trade chief of the bloc following the resignation of Ireland's Phil Hogan.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the announcement as she named European Parliament heavyweight Mairead McGuinness as the new financial services commissioner to fill Ireland's seat at the table.

LONDON (AP) — The U.K.’s chief negotiator in post-Brexit trade talks called for “more realism” from the European Union before the start Tuesday of another round of discussions between the two sides.

With expectations of a breakthrough in the talks diminishing, there are concerns that they could collapse in the coming weeks. Though the U.K. left the bloc on Jan. 31, it is in a transition period that effectively sees it abide by EU rules until the end of this year. The two sides have been negotiating future trade ties over the past few months, but progress has been minimal.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A leading opposition activist in Belarus was held on the border Tuesday after she resisted an attempt by authorities’ to force her to leave the country, part of government efforts to end a month of protests against the reelection of the country’s authoritarian leader.

Maria Kolesnikova, a member of the Coordination Council created by the opposition to facilitate talks with longtime leader President Alexander Lukashenko on a transition of power, was detained Monday in the capital, Minsk, along with two other council members.

LONDON (AP) — A British judge on Monday rejected a request by lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to delay his extradition hearing until next year to give his lawyers more time to respond to U.S. allegations that he conspired with hackers to obtain classified information.

The adjournment request came on the first day of a London court hearing where Assange is fighting American prosecutors’ attempt to send him to the U.S. to stand trial on spying charges.

MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud have discussed the prospects for the joint production of a Russian coronavirus vaccine, the Kremlin press service reported on Monday following a telephone conversation between the two leaders.

"Special attention was paid to the prospects for the joint production of a vaccine to prevent the disease developed in Russia," the press service said.

MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/: Russia’s Health watchdog (Roszdravnadzor) has confirmed that while checking the fatality statistics at in-patient facilities, it discovered inaccuracies in registering deaths caused by the novel coronavirus infection, the medvestnik.ru medical news website reported on Monday, citing head of the agency Alla Samoilova.

MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/: Russia hopes that negotiations on settlement in Cyprus will renew as soon as the epidemiologic situation allows, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros before his visit to Cyprus on September 8.