Europe

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s ruling populists are set to tighten their hold on power in a Sunday parliamentary election held amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus in the Balkan country and a partial boycott by the opposition.

Nearly 6.6 million voters are eligible to cast ballots for the 250-member parliament and local authorities.

LONDON (AP) — Three people were killed and three seriously hurt Saturday in a summer-evening stabbing attack in a park in the English town of Reading, police said. They said it was “not currently” being treated as a terrorism and the motive was unclear.

Thames Valley Police force said officers arrested a 25-year-old local man at the scene and they were not looking for anyone else.

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/: Russia ready to discuss problems of activities in outer space within the Russian-US dialogue the agreement on which was reached in January, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday following the release of the United States’ defense space strategy.

LONDON, June 20. /TASS/: Many Western politicians mistakenly believe that the entire world can be ruled from Washington, Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service and Chairman of the Russian Historical Society Sergei Naryshkin said in an interview with BBC on Friday.

"I think some politicians in the West had false expectations. They felt like that the world could be ruled from one centre - Washington," he said. "The most important lesson from the past is that if any country tries to rule the world all by itself this will undoubtedly end in disaster."

MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/: The decision to hold a Victory Day parade in Russia on June 24 has been made taking into account the improving epidemiological situation in the country, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Russia’s Channel One.

MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/: Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Speaker Valentina Matviyenko has thanked the medical workers who are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic on the frontline in a message timed to the Day of Medical Worker.

"Medicine is not just work, it is real service. We have seen this clearly during the coronavirus pandemic. I want to express my deepest gratitude to all medical workers of clinics, hospitals, ambulances: everyone who has been fighting on the frontline. We fully understand how difficult this has been for you," she said.

PARIS, June 20. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s article on preserving the historical truth about WWII is ‘profound’ and ‘extensive,’ French historian Jean-Pierre Arrignon has told TASS.

"This is a profound and extensive work," he said. "I totally agree with what Putin said in his article. History must never be forgotten, as its lessons give us a better understanding of the present-day situation in the world."

TASS, June 20: Russian-Polish relations are at their lowest point, which is against both countries’ interests, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday on Russia’s Channel One.

"Our current relations with Poland are not just lacking, they are bad. They are perhaps at the lowest possible level, which is against both our countries’ interests, because the people of our countries would be interested in the opposite," he said.

Peskov added that Russia is disappointed by Warsaw’s confrontational policy.

MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/: Russia has documented 7,889 cases of COVID-19, a disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in the past 24 hours, the anti-coronavirus crisis center informed reporters on Saturday. For four days running, the daily increase in new cases has not surpassed 8,000.

According to the crisis center, Russia has documented a total of 576,952 cases of the virus. The daily increase rate reaches 1.4%.

The lowest increase rate has been documented in Moscow (0.5%), with 1,057 new cases documented.

ROME, June 20 (NNN-XINHUA) – A deal for Italy to export two kinds of special rice to China is seen as a sign of continued strengthening of ties between the two countries, as it does about the popularity of Italian rice-based cuisine.

Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, announced recently that, the two countries finalised a deal that will allow Italy to export Arborio and Carnaroli rice to China. The agreement is one of the latest commercial deals between the two countries.