Europe

DOVER, England (Reuters) - Britain’s Border Force brought migrants ashore in the port of Dover on Monday after picking them up from an inflatable boat as they crossed the Channel, the latest in a surge of crossings that is causing political tensions with France.

Taking advantage of a spell of hot weather and calm sea conditions, more than 500 migrants have made it to British shores since Thursday, many in overloaded rubber dinghies.

BRUSSELS, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The European Union's (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell on Sunday voiced concern over the resumed energy exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean by Turkey.

"Latest naval mobilizations in Eastern Mediterranean are extremely worrying. They will not contribute to finding any solutions. On the contrary, they will lead to a greater antagonism and distrust," Borrell said in a statement.

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Election officials in Belarus say the country’s longtime authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko has won his sixth consecutive presidential term, taking over 80% of the votes, according to preliminary results of Sunday’s election that resulted in mass protests all over Belarus and a violent crackdown on demonstrators.

The country’s central election commission announced on Monday that all the ballots have been counted and Lukashenko took 80.23% of the votes, while his main opposition challenger Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya had only 9.9%.

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Phalanxes of Belarusian police in full riot gear violently dispersed thousands of demonstrators who poured into the streets to challenge the early count from Sunday’s presidential election indicating the longtime authoritarian leader won a sixth term by a landslide.

Hundreds of people were detained, according to a leading rights group.

ROME (AP) — With confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. hitting 5 million Sunday, by far the highest of any country, the failure of the most powerful nation in the world to contain the scourge has been met with astonishment and alarm in Europe.

Perhaps nowhere outside the U.S. is America’s bungled virus response viewed with more consternation than in Italy, which was ground zero of Europe’s epidemic. Italians were unprepared when the outbreak exploded in February, and the country still has one of the world’s highest official death tolls at over 35,000.

SOLNECHNOGORSK /outside Moscow/, August 8. /TASS/: Kiev’s statements about "the incomprehension" of the Minsk accords proves that the country is not willing to resolve the Donbass crisis, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.

09 Aug 2020; MEMO: EU countries decided to remove Morocco from its free travel list granting entry to non-EU nationals to the bloc’s territory, reports Anadolu Agency. 

The decision came a week after Algeria was removed from the green list.

Residents of Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay can travel without restrictions to the EU.

09 Aug 2020; MEMO: Flavio Insinna, host of the popular Italian TV show “L’Eredità” will have to deliver this statement next time he goes on the air: “International law does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.”

LONDON, August 9. /TASS/: The policy of "deterrence and dialogue" towards Russia chosen by NATO and Britain consists of 95% of deterrence and only 5% of dialogue, Russia’s Ambassador in the UK Andrei Kelin said in an interview with the Chinese TV channel CGTN on Saturday.

MINSK, August 9. /TASS/: Belarus won’t be drawn into chaos and civil war after the election, President Alexander Lukashenko said after casting his vote on Sunday.

"The situation should not be underestimated but there are absolutely no grounds to say that starting from tomorrow the country will be drawn into chaos or any struggle, confrontation or any civil war. I tell you this sincerely and guarantee," Lukashenko said.

Meanwhile, the country’s authorities are considering "various options," the president noted.