Europe

PRISTINA, June 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said he would resign if a war crimes indictment filed by prosecutors last week is confirmed by a special tribunal in The Hague.

“If the charges are confirmed, I will immediately resign as your President and face the accusations,” Thaci said in a national address about allegations linked to his role as political leader of a rebel army during Kosovo’s 1998-99 war with Serbia.

“I will not face justice from this office.”

BRUSSELS, June 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Belgium’s King Philippe expressed his “deepest regrets” for the harm done during Belgian colonial rule in DR Congo, in a first for his country.

“I want to express my deepest regrets for these wounds of the past whose pain is reawakened today by the discrimination still present in our societies,” Philippe said Tuesday in a letter to Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi to mark the country’s 60th independence anniversary.

PARIS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced an investment package worth 15 billion euros (16.89 billion U.S. dollars) over the next two years to accelerate a switch to a more environment-friendly economic model.

"The state will take its full responsibility: an additional 15 billion euros over two years will be injected for the ecological conversion of our economy," Macron said when addressing members of the Citizens' Convention on Climate (CCC) at the Elysee Palace.

BERLIN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that Germany would spearhead efforts to ensure an effective post-pandemic EU recovery, after she held a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

"We are going to work together and make Europe fit for tackling this crisis," Merkel said following talks with Macron at the German government guesthouse in Meseberg, north of Berlin. It is the first face-to-face meeting between the chancellor and another state leader after the coronavirus outbreak.

GENEVA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that all countries living with COVID-19 will be the new normal in the coming months, as the pandemic had already infected more than 10 million people worldwide, including nearly 500,000 deaths.

"The critical question that all countries will face in the coming months is how to live with this virus. That is the new normal," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a daily press briefing.

GENEVA, June 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The coronavirus pandemic is “not even close to being over”, the WHO warned, as the global death toll passed half a million and cases surged in Latin America and the United States.

In another grim milestone, the number of infections recorded worldwide topped 10 million, while some authorities reimposed lockdown measures that have crippled the economies worldwide.

“We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives,” World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

BERLIN (AP) — The U.N. nuclear agency says slightly elevated levels of radioactivity that have been detected in northern Europe pose no risk to human health or to the environment but it’s still unclear what the cause was.

The Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish radiation and nuclear safety watchdogs said last week that they had spotted small amounts of radioactive isotopes in parts of Finland, southern Scandinavia and the Arctic.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle said Tuesday it has cancelled its 97 outstanding orders for planes from U.S. manufacturer Boeing.

Norwegian said in a statement it had terminated the purchase agreements of five 787 Dreamliners and 92 737 MAX aircraft.

The Oslo-based company also said it had filed a legal claim seeking the return of payments made for the aircraft. It is also seeking compensation for losses it claims it incurred from the global grounding of the 737 Max planes as well as engine issues on the 787.

NIZHNY TAGIL, Russia (AP) — In 2011, the industrial city of Nizhny Tagil was dubbed “Putingrad” for its residents’ fervent support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Nine years later, it appears the city 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) east of Moscow no longer lives up to that nickname.

Workers are speaking out against the constitutional changes that would allow Putin to stay in office until 2036 amid growing frustration over their dire living conditions, which have not improved despite all the promises.

ZVENIGOROD, June 29. /TASS/: International railway service may be resumed this year, Russian Transport Minister Yevgeny Dietrich told reporters on Monday.

"This year," he said when asked a respective question.

Russia’s transport ministry is discussing resumption of service with Finland, the minister added, noting that it is necessary "to synchronize safety rules requirements."

Earlier Russian Railways fully suspended service of international passenger trains amid the pandemic.