Europe

MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/: The Russian delegation plans to raise the issue of Washington’s destruction of the arms control system at the upcoming autumn sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), head of the State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs Leonid Slutsky told reporters on Saturday.

State Duma is lower house of the Russian parliament.

KHABAROVSK, August 24. /TASS/: A ship with two orcas and five beluga whales, earlier kept in the Srednyaya Bay in the Primorsky Region, departed from the Far Eastern regional capital of Khabarovsk down the Amur River, the Trans Amur company in charge of the shipment said on Saturday.

MINSK, August 23. /TASS/: Belarus’ government plans to submit its draft program of integration with Russia to President Alexander Lukashenko on August 27, Prime Minister Sergei Rumas said on Friday.

"On Tuesday (August 27), we will refer this draft program to the head of state for approval so that the prime ministers [of Belarus and Russia] could initial this program of actions," he said in an interview with the Belarus-1 television program.

MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/: Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko has relinquished his duties in London and left for Russia, the Russian Embassy in the UK informed on Saturday.

"24 August 2019 Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Mr Alexander Yakovenko relinquished his duties and departed to Russia," the embassy stated. "Mr Ivan Volodin, Minister-Counsellor, will act as Charg· d'Affaires a.i."

Yakovenko was appointed ambassador to the UK in 2011.

MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/: Aeroflot Group has about 30 permits for international flights extended, according to the order of the Federal Air Transport Agency. The relevant document has been published on the agency’s website.

The Interdepartmental Commission under Russia’s Transport Ministry has extended all permits for the flights that were previously made by Transaero. The only exception is the permit for Moscow -Paris flight, which was made by Rossiya airline (part of Aeroflot Group). It was not extended but was given to the S7 airline.

MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/: Russian nuclear-powered submarines of the 667BDRM Tula project and 955 Yuri Dolgoruky project fired ballistic missiles at the Kura range in Kamchatka and Chizha range in the Arkhangelsk region as part of combat training, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"On August 24, in accordance with the combat training plan, the Sineva sea-based ballistic missile and the Bulava missile were successfully launched from the Tula and Yuri Dolgoruky strategic submarines," the ministry said.

24 Aug 2019; MEMO: 20 NGOs urge France to criticise Egyptian president– Twenty NGOs have urged French President Emmanuel Macron to denounce Egypt’s human rights record, criticising the invitation of Egyptian president to the G7 summit to be held in France on Saturday and Sunday, Anadolu Agency reported.

MOSCOW, Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Soyuz spacecraft carrying Russia’s first humanoid robot on Saturday failed to dock automatically with the international space station, Moscow news agencies reported.

The craft launched a repeat of the docking manoeuvres after the failure of the first attempt, which had been scheduled for 0530 GMT, the agencies said.

Live broadcast of the event on the Russian space agency Roskomos was interrupted with the Soyuz spacecraft about 100 metres off the ISS.

KIEV, Aug 24 (NNN-Xinhua) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes that negotiations with Russia on the swap of captives can be finalized soon, Interfax Ukraine news agency reported.

“The first results should be in the upcoming days … I’ve been working on this for two months. Let me do my job,” Zelensky told the journalists.

The president said he is doing his best to honor his commitment to the Ukrainian people on the return of persons held in Russia including sailors.

BIARRITZ (France), Aug 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The leaders of the G7 club of rich countries meet in southern France on Saturday, with the burning Amazon, diving stock markets and their own stark divisions giving little grounds for optimism.

US President Donald Trump and fellow Western leaders will also face protests as they arrive in the famed surfing town of Biarritz — though a heavy police presence will keep them far from view.