Europe

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A late exit poll in Poland’s presidential runoff Sunday showed the conservative, populist incumbent, Andrzej Duda, leading against the liberal, pro-Europe mayor of Warsaw, but with the race still too close to call.

It appeared to be the closest election in Poland’s history, reflecting the deep divisions in this European Union nation. Although the country is struggling with the coronavirus pandemic and problems in its health and education systems, the campaign was dominated by issues of culture and saw strains of homophobia and anti-Semitism.

YEKATERINBURG, July 11. /TASS/: The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has come to a conclusion that an avalanche killed the Dyatlov group in the Ural Mountains in 1959, Andrei Kuryakov, a deputy chief of the directorate of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office for the Ural Federal District, told reporters on Saturday.

"[The dead tourists’] injuries are characteristic for the injuries of rock climbers caught in an avalanche," Kuryakov said.

MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/: More than 219,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection were registered worldwide in the past day, surpassing 12.3 million, while the coronavirus-related fatalities increased by over 5,200 to over 556,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its daily bulletin on Saturday.

MOSCOW, July 12. /TASS/: Russia passed the most challenging stage of COVID-19 crisis with minimum losses, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

"I will probably express my personal viewpoint that all agencies, all ministries and all government structures and the country’s leadership in general worked as a well-coordinated mechanism during this crisis," Peskov told Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

MOSCOW, July 12. /TASS/: Russian-US relations are at their lowest point, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on Rossiya-1 TV channel on Sunday.

"Our relations are still nearly at the lowest point," Peskov said commenting on the dynamics of Russian-US relations.

"The situation is very bad - both in terms of bilateral relations and our two countries’ responsibility for multilateral affairs, first of all the issue of control over arms and strategic stability," Peskov said.

MOSCOW, July 12. /TASS/: Clinical trials of vaccine against the novel coronavirus were completed on volunteers at Sechenov University, and the results of research proved the medication’s effectiveness, chief researcher Elena Smolyarchuk told TASS on Sunday.

"The research has been completed and it proved that the vaccine is safe. The volunteers will be discharged on July 15 and July 20," said Smolyarchuk, who heads the Center for Clinical Research on Medications at Sechenov University.

MOSCOW, July 12. /TASS/: The deterioration of relations between Moscow and Kiev is not linked to Crimea’s reunification with Russia, President Vladimir Putin told Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Our spoiled relations with Ukraine are not linked to Crimea in principle," Putin said.

Putin expressed confidence that this negative trend in relations between the two countries would be sooner or later over.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary has imposed new restrictions on cross-border travel as of next Wednesday in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus after a surge in new cases in several countries, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff said on Sunday.

Hungary lifted most of its lockdown restrictions in May and opened its borders to travellers from European Union states and neighbouring non-EU members.

(Reuters) - China’s Huawei Technologies has requested a meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to work out a deal to delay its potential removal from the country’s 5G phone network, the Sunday Times newspaper reported on Sunday.

The Chinese telecoms equipment maker is seeking to delay its removal from the from the country's 5G telecoms networks until after elections in June 2025, in the expectation that the new government may reverse the decision, the newspaper reported. bit.ly/3iTYDRi

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will spend 705 million pounds ($890 million) on border infrastructure to help keep trade flowing after its transition deal with the European Union expires at the end of the year, Cabinet Secretary Michael Gove said on Sunday.

The funding includes 470 million pounds to build port and inland infrastructure, including in the south-east of England to serve major freight crossings to France.

“There will be specific pieces of infrastructure that we put in place in order to smooth the flow of traffic,” Gove told the BBC’s Andrew Marr.