Europe

LONDON (AP) — The English town of Reading mourned Monday for three people stabbed to death in what is being treated as a terror attack, gathering for a moment of silence as police questioned the suspected lone attacker.

More than 100 students lit candles and laid flowers in memory of history teacher James Furlong, who was named as one of the victims. A flag in the courtyard of the Holt School, where he taught in nearby Wokingham, had been lowered to half-staff.

22 June 2020; MEMO: Nearly 1,500 British Jews signed a petition calling on the Boris Johnson government to refuse the appointment of Israeli Minister of Settlement Affairs, Tzipi Hotovely, as Tel Aviv’s ambassador to London because she “has an appalling record of racist and inflammatory behaviour”.

BELGRADE, June 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Coalition around the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), led by Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic, achieved a landslide victory at the parliamentary elections on Sunday, according to the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK).

Preliminary results showed, the coalition around the SNS won 63.35 percent of votes, while smaller ruling coalition partner, Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), led by Foreign Minister, Ivica Dacic, collected 10.62 percent.

MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/: Russia and Belarus negotiate patiently their economic disagreements, which will have no effect on their alliance, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a televised interview on Russia’s Channel One on Saturday.

MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/: Russia has managed to begin clinical testing of the vaccine against the novel coronavirus faster due to its experience in developing an Ebola vaccine, the Russian Defense Ministry informed reporters on Saturday, citing Alexander Ginzburg, director of the Gamalei National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology.

MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/: Russia hopes that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will be finalized and it will help step up energy security in Europe in the future, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a televised interview on Russia’s Channel One on Saturday.

"Unconditionally, we are hoping that the project will be finalized and that this project will eventually make its own contribution to the strengthening of energy security in Europe," he said.

Peskov pointed out that Washington does not act as a fair competitor as far as the gas pipeline is concerned.

MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/: Contrary to ideas spread in the US, many Americans know that it was the Soviet Union who played a key role in defeating Nazism and liberating Europe, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said Saturday in an open interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman.

MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/: Russia will not pressure China into acceding to the Russian-US nuclear arms reduction treaty (New START), Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said Saturday in an open interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman, commenting on Washington’s calls to get Beijing to the negotiating table.

MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/: Approval of amendments to Russia’s constitution will enhance the country’s position as a strong and sovereign state, so the other nations will have to agree to this state of affairs, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a televised interview on Channel One on Saturday.

Peskov pointed out that certain Western countries had never approved of Russia's growing independence.

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/: The number of coronavirus patients recovered in Russia for the first time exceeded new cases this week, according to TASS estimates based on the anti-coronavirus crisis center’s data.

On June 15-21, the crisis center reported 55,716 new COVID-19 cases and 59,661 recoveries. Last week, this number stood at 61,291 and 53,319, respectively.

The growth in infections in the past seven days reached 10.5% versus 13% a week earlier. The average daily growth dropped from 1.8% to 1.44%.