Europe

22 August 2019; AFP: Russia on Thursday launched an unmanned rocket carrying a life-size humanoid robot that will spend 10 days learning to assist astronauts on the International Space Station.

Named Fedor, short for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research, the robot is the first ever sent up by Russia.

22 Aug 2019; MEMO: The worst humanitarian crises since the Second World War would not have been possible without the complicity of the UK say campaign groups in a report highlighting the Conservative government’s licencing of billions of pounds worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia since the start of the Yemen war.

LONDON (Reuters) - Net immigration to Britain sank to its lowest since 2013 during the year to the end of March, driven by a sustained fall in the number of immigrants from the European Union since 2016’s Brexit referendum, official figures showed on Thursday.

Rising immigration was a major public concern when Britain voted to leave the EU, though it has since dropped down people’s list of worries. Nonetheless, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government plans to introduce restrictions on EU migration as after Britain leaves the bloc on Oct. 31.

OSLO (Reuters) - Iran is prepared to work on French proposals to salvage the international nuclear deal that Tehran signed with world powers in 2015 but it will not tolerate U.S. interference in the Gulf, its foreign minister said on Thursday.

At a time of heightened friction between Tehran and Washington, Iran also on Thursday displayed what it described as a domestically built long-range, surface-to-air missile air defense system.

The United State abandoned the international nuclear deal in May last year and stepped up sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo lawmakers voted to dissolve parliament on Thursday, paving the way for a parliamentary election after Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj resigned last month.

A total of 89 deputies voted to dissolve the 120-seat parliament. An election should take place within 45 days.

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron firmly told Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday that there was not enough time to negotiate a wholly new Brexit divorce deal.

On his first foreign trip since winning the premiership a month ago, Johnson warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Macron that they will face a potentially disorderly no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31 unless the European Union does a new deal.

BRUSSELS, Aug 22 (NNN-SPUTNIK-BERNAMA) — The European Union (EU) is against inviting Russia to the G7 format and thus resuming the G8 format until the country addresses the issues that led to its exclusion back in 2014, Sputnik news agency reported, quoting  a high-ranking source in EU institutions on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday, ahead of the G7 summit in France’s Biarritz, that he would support Russia’s possible return to the format.

MADRID, Aug 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Spain’s health ministry issued an international alert over the country’s biggest ever listeriosis outbreak on Wednesday as the number of people affected rose to 150, including one fatality.

Amid concerns over possible infection among the more than 80 million tourists who visit Spain annually, the ministry said it was checking another 523 suspected cases.

Moscow, Aug 22; AFP/GANASHAKTI: Russia on Thursday launched an unmanned rocket carrying a life-size humanoid robot that will spend 10 days learning to assist astronauts on the International Space Station.

Named Fedor, for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research with identification number Skybot F850, the robot is the first ever sent up by Russia.

London, Aug 22 (PTI) Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, wanted in India in connection with the nearly USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case, is set to appear before a UK court for his customary 28-day remand hearing on Thursday.

The 48-year-old is likely to be informed of the dates for his trial on the extradition charges brought by the Indian government, being represented at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London by the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).