Europe

MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/: Certain progress has been achieved in the issue of providing Russian visas for US teachers meant to work in the Anglo-American School of Moscow, Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told TASS on Thursday.

"There is progress achieved on the basis of reciprocity. At the same time, we want this issue to be fully resolved," the department clarified.

MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/: The participation of Lebanon and Iraq in the Astana process on Syria will make it possible to resolve a number of pressing issues, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.

MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/: Russia is concerned about mounting tensions in the Gulf region, which can result in a large-scale military clash, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters at a press briefing on Thursday.

"We are concerned about the growing conflict potential in the Persian Gulf region," she stressed. "The developments are moving to a dangerous line and are fraught with the risks of a large-scale military clash."

MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/: Russian Central Research Institute of Precision Machine-Building (TsNIITochMash, part of the state hi-tech corporation Rostec) has received an invention patent for modular firearms that can be easily converted into guns chambered for different calibers, the Institute’s press office reported on Thursday.

MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/: Nord Stream 2 AG, operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction project, is assessing the decision of the US Senate committee on imposing sanctions against Nord Stream 2, the company told TASS.

"We know of this procedure step at the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We are currently assessing the proposed legislation. It is too early to comment on any implications for our project," the company’s representative said.

MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/: About 70 combat ships and support vessels and 58 aircraft of the Russian Navy and the Aerospace Force are taking part in the Ocean Shield 2019 drills in the Baltic Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

The Ocean Shield naval drills will run on August 1-9 in the Baltic Sea under the direction of Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, the ministry said.

PETROZAVODSK, August 1. /TASS/: Visitors from St. Petersburg who embarked on a kayaking trip have disappeared in the White Sea in Russia’s northwestern Karelia Region. Ten kayakers were expected to return to the mainland on July 29, but no contact has been established with them since then, the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s regional department said.
"Contact has been lost with a group of ten tourists in Belomorsk. They last got in touch on July 24, and their trip should have ended by July 29," the ministry’s press service said.

MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/: The forest fire situation in Siberia and the Far East has been deteriorating because regional authorities have failed to take enough measures to combat blazes, Deputy Chief of the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Disaster Management Center Sergei Abanin told reporters.

"The Emergencies Ministry, the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring and the Federal Forestry Agency provided forecasts to the Siberian regions but regional authorities have failed to take enough measures to prevent wildfires and extinguish them," he said.

01 August 2019; DW: Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany will not be taking part in a US-led mission to secure oil tanker ships sailing near Iran. The US ambassador in Berlin slammed the decision, saying Germany has responsibilities.

Germany will not participate in a naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz that is led by the United States, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday.

01 August 2019; DW: At an event marking the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, Germany recognized its moral responsibility for Nazi wartime atrocities in Poland. But Foreign Minister Heiko Maas ruled out financial reparations.

While on an official visit to Poland, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Thursday participated in commemorations for the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising.

Berlin feels moral responsibility for Nazi Germany's devastation of Poland, Maas said.