Europe

RIGA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Egils Levits assumed office as Latvia's new president on Monday, taking the oath of office here in front of the parliament in a ceremony broadcast on public television.

In his first speech as president, Levits told lawmakers that in the following decade, Latvia has to evolve into a modern, sustainable North European country that could serve as a role model to others.

LONDON, July 7 (Xinhua) -- China is "strongly opposed" to British intervention in Hong Kong affairs, Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming said on Sunday, criticizing some British politicians' Cold War mentality on bilateral ties.

MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/: Aeroflot’s flight SU 1893, that departed from Tbilisi earlier on Monday, has landed at Sheremetyevo Airport, according to the airport’s online information.

The plane reportedly landed at 4:51 Moscow time.

It is the last flight of a Russian airline company from Tbilisi, which closes the flight program between Russia and Georgia.

Georgian airliners Georgian Airways and MyWay Airlines ended flight to Russia on July 7. Six airline companies flew from Russia to Georgia: Aeroflot, S7, Ural Airlines, Pobeda, Red Wings and Nordavia.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 8. /TASS/: A Utair flight en route from Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi to the Siberian city of Nizhnevartovsk made an emergency landing at Rostov-on-Don’s Platov International Airport, an airport spokesperson told TASS on Monday.

"I can confirm that the flight made an unscheduled landing," the spokesperson said.

According to medical sources, one of the flight’s passengers was hospitalized.

TBILISI, July 8. /TASS/: By using foul language in his outburst against the Russian leadership, the host of Georgia’s Rustavi 2 opposition TV channel Giogri Gabunia sought to exacerbate Georgian-Russian relations and make them even more tense, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

"We strongly condemn Rustavi 2 television’s statements, which have nothing to do with freedom of speech and which are a sheer provocation aimed at making Georgian-Russian relations, complex as they are, even more tense," the statement reads.

MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/: Russia is not ready to give a response to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s offer on holding talks to settle the crisis in Donbass, to be mediated by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France, but will definitely study this proposal, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

"I’m not ready to answer now, this is an absolutely new format," Peskov said. "We need to understand if the meeting has any prospects and what kind of a format is being suggested," Peskov explained.

8 July 2019; DW: British Airways has been fined 183.4 million pounds ($230 million, €205 million) by the United Kingdom's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after computer hackers stole customer data last year, according to its parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG).

IAG said in a statement on Monday that the ICO intended to issue the penalty, which equated to 1.5% of its worldwide turnover for 2017, under the UK Data Protection Act.

LONDON (AP) — The British government is hunting for the source of a leak of diplomatic cables from Britain’s ambassador in Washington that branded President Donald Trump’s administration “dysfunctional” and “inept.”

British officials are embarrassed by the publication of Kim Darroch’s unflattering assessment — but more alarmed that sensitive confidential information has been leaked, possibly for political ends.

The leak embarrasses outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May, who has sometimes clashed with Trump.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court on Monday convicted a notorious rebel commander known as “The Terminator” of 18 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder, rape and sexual slavery for his role in atrocities in a bloody ethnic conflict in a mineral-rich region of Congo in 2002-2003.

8 July 2019; MEMO: Veteran Israeli journalist Gideon Levy has claimed that if Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn were elected as British prime minister, major changes would happen for Palestine.

Addressing a packed auditorium at London’s Olympia exhibition centre this weekend, Levy claimed he is “one of those who believe that if the miracle happens and Corbyn is elected in this country [the UK], this can bring about a major change”.