Europe

26 June 2019; DW: Danish lawmaker Mette Frederiksen, who heads the Social Democrats, announced on Wednesday that she will lead a left-leaning government. 

"It is with great pleasure I can announce that after three weeks of negotiations, we have a majority to form a new government," said the 41-year-old, who is set to become Denmark's youngest prime minister.

MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry is drafting a set of protocols to make the work of biological labs in neighboring countries more transparent, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday.

"We are working on an agreement, on protocols with our neighbors giving us a chance to achieve greater transparency, to look inside those labs that are being financed partly by the Pentagon," he said in the Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyev program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

KIEV, June 25. /TASS/: The decision of President Vladimir Putin to lift a ban on the transit of Ukrainian goods through Russia is a sign of Moscow’s willingness to follow the path of bilateral economic relations, Viktor Medvedchuk, Chairman of the political council of the Ukrainian party Opposition Platform - For Life, said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/: The Iranian armed forces will respond to any new US attempt to violate the country’s airspace, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to Al Jazeera.

"Our armed forces will respond in a most resolute manner to any new violation of the Iranian airspace committed by the Americans," the Iranian leader said, adding that his country "is not seeking a confrontation with the United States, but will respond to any aggression by Washington."

LONDON (AP) — Boris Johnson failed to shut down questions about his private life Tuesday as a round of media appearances served only to bog him down further in questions about character and trust.

Johnson, who is running to be the next leader for both the Conservative Party and the nation, has refused to address personal questions despite an ongoing clamor to face public scrutiny after a reported quarrel with his girlfriend last week prompted a police visit.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The Trump administration aims to persuade allies the confrontation with Iran, which threatened to worsen into a deadly shooting war last week, is “not Iran versus the United States” but rather a global challenge requiring global diplomacy, the new acting Pentagon chief said Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters traveling with him to a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Mark Esper said he wants to help form a broader coalition to deter Iran and compel its leaders to return to the negotiating table for nuclear talks.

25 June 2019; MEMO: The Kremlin yesterday announced that the Russian government considers the new US sanctions imposed on Iran illegal.

“We consider the new sanctions illegal. That’s all we can say”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Piskov told reporters amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran.

25 June 2019; MEMO: The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) has endorsed the Palestinian call for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, in a vote taken at its AGM in Bristol on Monday.

According to reports on social media, the resolution supporting the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign was easily passed, with almost 80 percent support (final numbers to be confirmed).

25 June 2019; DW: Milan has won the right to host the 2026 Winter Olympics after an International Olympic Committee vote. The Swedish city of Stockholm lost out in the final round of voting in a process considered to have been as much about finance as the sport itself.

"It's a victory for Italy, for the future and for sports," Italian Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said in a statement. "With the Winter Olympics, we will prove to the world our strengths and our skills."

25 June 2019; DW: The Netherlands was struck by a major telecommunications outage on Monday, taking down the emergency services number.

Police were sent out into the streets to be easily accessible, as callers failed to reach the 112 emergency number.