Europe

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia has flatly denied allegations that it is spreading disinformation about the new coronavirus outbreak on social media.

US officials said Russian-linked accounts were making unfounded claims that America started the outbreak.

Thousands of profiles on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were peddling the theory, the officials said.

Responding to the allegations on Saturday, the Russian foreign ministry dismissed them as “fake”.

BERLIN (AP) — Voters in Hamburg, Germany’s second-biggest city, go to the polls Sunday to pick a new regional assembly in an election that’s been dominated by the issue of climate change.

The city state has been governed by a coalition of the center-left Social Democrats and the environmentalist Green party for the last five years. They are the two leading parties, according to polls.

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of supporters of Julian Assange marched through London on Saturday to pressure the U.K. government into refusing to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to the United States to face spying charges.

Famous backers, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood joined the crowd protesting the U.S. espionage charges against the founder of the secret-spilling website. An extradition hearing for Assange is due to begin in a London court on Monday.

22 Feb 2020; MEMO: German authorities have confirmed that nine of the 11 dead after the far-right, racist attack on a sheesha bar in Germany are from immigrant communities including five Turks and a pregnant woman.

Also amongst the dead are a Bosnian, a Bulgarian and a Romanian citizen.

BERLIN, Feb 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of people took part in vigils across Germany after a gunman with apparent far-right beliefs killed nine people at a shisha bar and a cafe in the city of Hanau.

Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the “poison” of racism, as anger mixed with grief over the latest and deadliest attack linked to Germany’s extreme right in recent months.

The suspect, 43-year-old German Tobias R., was found dead at his home after the rampage along with his 72-year-old mother in what appeared to be a murder-suicide.

ARKHANGELSK, February 21. /TASS/: The Days of the Arctic, which opened at the Northern Arctic Federal University (SAFU) in Arkhangelsk on Thursday, are devoted to scientific and technical discoveries and to the 100th anniversary of birth of writer Fyodor Abramov, Deputy Director of the University’s Intellectual Center Svetlana Tyukina told TASS.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that Russia is seriously concerned over extremists’ aggressive actions in Syria’s Idlib governorate, the Kremlin press service said on Friday after their telephone conversation.

"The focus was again made on the current situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone. Vladimir Putin expressed serious concern over ongoing aggressive actions of extremist groups," the press service stated.

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: Russia’s embassy in Spain will offer all possible assistance to Russian national Olesya Krasilova who was detained in that country in mid-February, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/: Albania has extradited a Russian national who fought for the Islamic State terror group (outlawed in Russia), Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement on Saturday.

"The Federal Security Service, together with the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, the INTERPOL National Central Bureau of the Russian Interior Ministry and the Federal Penitentiary Service, arranged the extradition of an internationally wanted Russian national, Rasul Mislayev, from Albania," the statement reads.

ANTHOLZ /Italy/, February 22. /TASS/: Russian biathlete Alexander Loginov is suspected of repeatedly violating anti-doping rules, Italian police said in a warrant to search a hotel in the town of Antholz, where the Russian team is staying.

Searches at the hotel took place on Saturday morning.