Europe

PARIS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on Sunday to convene a Normandy format meeting to make progress to stop hostilities in eastern Ukraine after detainees swap between Moscow and Kiev raised hope to end the year-long conflict, according to a press release issued by Macron's office.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, facing staunch opposition at home, told Ireland’s leader Monday that a new Brexit deal can be reached so Britain leaves the European Union by the Oct. 31 deadline.

Speaking alongside Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin, Johnson said a deal on the Irish border question can be secured in time to enable a smooth British departure from the EU by the scheduled Brexit date.

MOSCOW, Sept 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia’s ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, has lost a slew of seats in the Moscow parliament, RIA news agency said on Monday, suggesting a tactical voting strategy pushed by opponents may have worked.

Sunday’s poll was one of the most closely watched local elections in years after the exclusion of many opposition candidates triggered the Russian capital’s biggest protests in nearly a decade.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — The Latest on a cargo ship overturned off Georgia coast (all times local):

2 p.m.

The U.S. Coast Guard says rescuers have been stymied in their search for the remaining four crew members of a cargo ship overturned near a Georgia port by a fire onboard the vessel.

Coast Guard Capt. John Reed said Sunday afternoon that rescue teams safely evacuated 20 people from the ship in St. Simons Sound, but then determined the situation was too risky to go further inside the vessel.

MOSCOW, September 8. /TASS/: Damascus has lambasted US and Turkish patrolling of a planned security zone in northeastern Syria as aggression, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Damascus believes that "this step is aggression aimed at foot dragging the crisis in Syria," the statement said. The Syrian Foreign Ministry views these steps as "a flagrant violation of international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country."

ST.PETERSBURG, September 8. /TASS/: The latest prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia demonstrates that both countries are ready for resuming dialogue, Russia’s Federation Council (upper house) Speaker Valentina Matviyenko told reporters in St. Petersburg on Sunday.

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, September 8. /TASS/: Russia will supply S-400 missile systems to India in 18-19 months and New Delhi has made an advance payment, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said in an interview with "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"An advance payment [under the contract] has been made and everything will be supplied in strict compliance with the schedule. This is nearly 18-19 months," Borisov said, speaking about the timeframe of the contract with India.

MOSCOW, September 8. /TASS/: Russia has been unable so far to solve a number of vital problems in its relations with Japan and the Kremlin regrets about this, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on Sunday.

"We regret to say that so far we have failed to solve a number of very important problems," Peskov said.

According to Peskov, the Kremlin views positively cooperation between Moscow and Tokyo in general. "Solutions to such vital issues can be only found based on mutual trust," he noted.

MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes that stabilization in Moldova will create an opportunity for both countries to boost their relations.

"We are very delighted that the situation in Moldova has largely stabilized. There is an opportunity to use this relative stability for the development of the economy and our bilateral ties," Putin said at a meeting with Moldovan President Igor Dodon.

"We seldom see each other, but always with benefit," Putin added.

MOSCOW, September 8. /TASS/: First Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Central Election Commission Nikolai Bulayev said he expects a high voter turnout at the polls held across Russia on Sunday.

"This morning I was almost the first one to vote at my polling station, people there were in a good mood, there were many voters during the opening. I hope the voter turnout will be rather high," Bulayev told reporters.

The official voiced hope that the polls would be held calmly and without any provocations.