Europe

MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/: The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has a sufficient number of employees abroad to prevent external threats to Russia, its Director Sergei Naryshkin told the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"It is enough to solve the tasks set for the Foreign Intelligence Service to identify and prevent the entire range of external threats to our state and its citizens," he said responding a question about the number of employees abroad.

MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS/: The Russian government has expanded the list of people on the list of economic sanctions, a document published on the official legal information portal informs.

Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko formed part of the list, along with former Ukrainian MP Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, member of the Ukrainian parliament Kira Rudik and several other officials.

According to the document, 41 people formed part of the list.

MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine "Sputnik V" is effective against any dose of the novel coronavirus, Alexander Ginzburg, director of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology told reporters on Friday.

"The vaccine’s immune response documented currently among volunteers is enough to counter any dose of COVID-19 that you could imagine," he said.

Moscow, Sep 5 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met his counterparts from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan here on Saturday and discussed ways to further boost bilateral defence cooperation with the key Central Asian countries.

Singh is in Moscow on a three-day visit to Russia to attend a crucial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers. On Friday, he held talks with his Chinese counterpart Gen. Wei Fenghe on ways to ease escalating border tension in eastern Ladakh.

MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/: The practice of granting additional powers to governors amid the epidemic helped Russia not to stifle its economy and cope with the outbreak, Russian President Vladimir Putin said an interview for Sergei Brilev’s documentary shown on the Rossiya 24 TV channel on Saturday.

New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) Five-nation influential grouping BRICS, which includes India and China, on Friday said conflicts should be resolved by peaceful means and diplomatic engagement through political dialogue and negotiations irrespective of their historic background.

The BRICS stressed on resolution of conflicts in a declaration issued after a virtual meeting of foreign ministers of the member nations of the grouping. The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

MOSCOW, Sept 5 (NNN-TASS) — Moscow outpatient clinics No. 2, No. 220, and No. 62 have received the first batch of a vaccine against the coronavirus, Deputy Moscow Mayor Anastasia Rakova told reporters.

“Today Moscow medical institutions received the first batch of a vaccine against the coronavirus for post-registration trials. Municipal outpatient clinics No.2, No. 220, and No. 62 became pioneers. The medical institutions are completely ready for the study launch which will begin next week,” she said.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis will next month visit the Italian town of Assisi, his first trip out of Rome since the coronavirus pandemic hit the country in February, and will sign a new encyclical, a spokesman for the Assisi Basilica said on Saturday.

The encyclical, which is the highest form of papal writing, is expected to focus on what Francis believes the post-pandemic world should look like, and will be called “Brothers All...”.

DUBLIN, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Irish government has nominated two candidates as Ireland's next European Commissioner, according to a government statement released here on Friday.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin "has today written to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to propose for nomination as Member of the European Commission Mairead McGuinness, currently vice president of the European Parliament, and Andrew McDowell, until recently vice president of the European Investment Bank," said the statement.

BRUSSELS. Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Friday unveiled a plan for a coordinated approach to the restriction of movement resulting from measures being implemented by individual member states to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

In a proposal to the European Council, the Commission said it wanted the restrictions on free movement to be coordinated and clearly communicated at the level of the European Union (EU).