Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said its exports could increase by a billion pounds as a result of the trade deals it is seeking from Australia and New Zealand, setting out its negotiating objectives on Wednesday ahead of the start of formal talks.

Australia and New Zealand are among Britain’s top priorities for trade talks, alongside the United States, the European Union and Japan, as it looks to define an independent trade policy after leaving the EU in January.

(Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was moving to update its guidelines on treating people stricken with COVID-19 to reflect results of a clinical trial that showed a cheap, common steroid can help save critically ill patients.

Trial results announced on Tuesday showed dexamethasone, used since the 1960s to reduce inflammation in diseases such as arthritis, cut death rates by around a third among the most severely ill COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital.

MOSCOW, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. attempts to force Iran nuclear deal participants to renounce their obligations and to punish Tehran by illegitimate initiatives, including the arms embargo, have no prospects from the point of view of international law, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

"We will use all the opportunities this international law provides to make sure that justice is served," Lavrov said during a news conference following talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.

(AP) --- A Kremlin-linked social media disinformation operation that sought to interfere with the 2016 U.S. election has continued its work to divide and discredit Western democracies, a new report finds — but its effectiveness has been limited by its own cautious tactics.

PARIS (AP) — Workers are preparing the Eiffel Tower for reopening next week, after the coronavirus pandemic led to the iconic Paris landmark’s longest closure since World War II.

France’s tourism industry is opening back up, but the 324-meter (1,063-feet) tall wrought-iron tower won’t immediately welcome visitors the way it did before the country went into lockdown in March.

MOSCOW, June 16./TASS/: The possibility of exchanging US citizen Paul Whelan, accused of espionage and sentenced to 16 years behind bars, for Russian nationals incarcerated in American prisons is not being looked into, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists on Tuesday.

"The participation of Mr. Whelan in such schemes is not discussed," the senior diplomat said. There are no grounds for speaking about ‘politicization’ of Whelan’s case and the verdict, Ryabkov pointed out. "He is guilty of committing a serious crime, he received a long jail term," he added.

MOSCOW, June 16. /TASS/: Moscow and Tehran will sign a declaration today on enhancing the role of international law, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday following talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.

BERLIN, June 16. /TASS/: The German government should consider possible steps in case of expansion of US sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, head of the Bundestag [German parliament] Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy Klaus Ernst said at a press conference on Tuesday.

"We should think of whether tit-for-tat measures are needed, for example, punitive sanctions on US LNG," Ernst said. "We should then think whether sanctions should be introduced against senators initiating [the bill on sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 project — TASS]," he noted.

MOSCOW, June 16. /TASS/: The Zhukovsky Institute research center will develop a concept and a program for the supersonic passenger jet in Russia by the end of 2021. The company made the relevant contract with the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade on June 3, according to papers on the government procurements website.

The contract price is 213 mln rubles ($3.1 mln for this year) and 504.7 mln rubles ($7.25 mln) for 2021.

MOSCOW, June 16. /TASS/: Russia is not interested in delegating its share of responsibility for the Arctic Region to other countries, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s special envoy, senior official in the Arctic Council Nikolai Korchunov said in a video conference entitled An International Element of the Strategy for Development of the Arctic until 2035: Opportunities and Threats.