Europe

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, June 16. /TASS/: The incident with the attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman may undermine global economy, and convincing evidence is needed in order to avoid unfounded accusations, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iranian authorities for the attacks on the oil tankers, noting that this assessment was based on intelligence and the analysis on the weapons allegedly used in the attack.

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, June 16. /TASS/: A full-fledged meeting between the Russian and US Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, in the framework of the G20 summit in Japan’s Osaka may be prepared by the leaders’ teams even on the eve of this event, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

Speaking in an interview with the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" on the Rossiya-1 TV channel, Peskov noted that if the two presidents meet "on the go" they won’t manage to discuss the whole range of issues on the bilateral agenda.

PARIS (AP) — The Notre Dame cathedral is holding its first Mass since the April fire that ravaged the edifice’s roof and caused its masterpiece spire to collapse.

Saturday’s mass at the Gothic building will be celebrated by Paris archbishop Michel Aupetit amid reduced attendance. For security reasons, only about 30 people — mainly priests, canons and church employees — will be admitted inside the cathedral. Aupetit will be wearing a construction worker’s helmet in addition to his miter.

LONDON (AP) — Candidates seeking to beat favorite Boris Johnson and become Britain’s next prime minister warned Sunday that the Conservative Party needs a real leadership contest, not just a coronation for the flamboyant front-runner.

Johnson, a former foreign secretary who has run a deliberately low-profile leadership campaign, was accused of trying to avoid scrutiny after he refused to take part in a televised debate Sunday night among the six candidates still in the race.

LONDON (AP) — The environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion has postponed a plan to shut down London’s Heathrow Airport with drones after it was criticized by politicians and police.

The group that demands faster action against climate change said Sunday it would “not be carrying out any actions at Heathrow Airport in June or July this year.”

Details of the group’s plan were leaked last month. British Aviation Minister Charlotte Vere warned that “using drones to deliberately put people’s safety at risk carries a maximum life sentence.”

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities say a tourist has drowned in Switzerland’s Lake Geneva after her boat capsized in a driving storm, and another was killed in nearby France after high winds brought down a tree on her campsite.

The Swiss news site 20 Minuten reported Sunday the previous day’s storm brought heavy rain, hail and wind gusts as high as 122 kph (75 mph).

Police say a tourist couple’s boat capsized in Lake Geneva around 5 p.m. Local media reported the man swam to another boat and fired off two flares, but by the time rescuers arrived they were unable to find the woman.

16 June 2019; DW: In her inauguration speech, Zuzana Caputova pledged to fight injustice and impunity. The 45-year-old is the country's first female president and the youngest person ever to be elected to the office.

Anti-corruption activist Zuzana Caputova kicked off her five-year term as president of Slovakia on Saturday by calling for state officials incapable of standing up to corruption to lose their jobs.

16 June 2019; DW: Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Saturday gave permission for 10 migrants to leave the German Sea-Watch 3 rescue ship.

Among the 10 were two pregnant women, three minors and two sick men. The group was allowed to disembark on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, which lies between the Italian mainland and the North African coast.

16 June 2019; DW: A German pilot performing an aerobatic stunt at an air show in northwestern Poland was killed on Saturday when his plane nosedived into a river.

The former Lufthansa employee, who is thought to have been in his 60s, was flying a Russian-made Yakolev Yak-52 aerobatic plane close to the city of Plock, about 110 kilometers from Warsaw, when his aircraft suddenly went into a tailspin during a turn.

This year, London will once again host the world’s biggest exhibition on Palestine, bringing together culture, history, entertainment and exhibitions.

Organised by the British NGO Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA), Palestine Expo aims to bring awareness to the Palestinian cause during the two-day event which is being held in the iconic Olympia Exhibition Centre.