Europe

MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/: The decision of the Rules Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to invite the Russian delegation to the summer session facilitates resumption of constructive dialogue and serves as recognition that sanctions against Russia were misguided, Russian State Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy said on Tuesday.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to Sweden for a revived rape investigation, but should still be questioned in the case while he is imprisoned in Britain, a Swedish court ruled Monday.

The ruling by the Uppsala District Court doesn’t mean the preliminary investigation must be abandoned, only that Assange won’t be returned to Sweden any time soon.

Eva-Marie Persson, Sweden’s deputy director of public prosecutions, said she has not decided whether to appeal.

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s visit to Europe (all times local):

10:30 p.m.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is giving President Donald Trump a gift that underscores the trans-Atlantic special relationship — and the international order the president often derides.

LONDON (AP) — President Donald Trump will turn from pageantry to policy Tuesday as he joins British Prime Minister Theresa May for a day of talks likely to highlight fresh uncertainty in the allies’ storied relationship.

Trump and May are due to meet with corporate executives from the United States and United Kingdom, before an afternoon news conference on the second day of Trump’s state visit. The leaders’ top priority is a possible bilateral trade deal to take effect once the U.K. leaves the European Union.

3 June 2019; AFP: The execution of nine French jihadists on death row in Iraq would be a disgrace for France and leave an "indelible stain" on the mandate of President Emmanuel Macron, a group of prominent French lawyers said Monday.

With controversy growing in France over the sentences handed out to the nine for joining the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, the 40 lawyers urged Paris to keep the men alive, irrespective of their crimes.

3 June 2019; DW: Bavarian chipmaker Infineon is planning a multibillion-dollar takeover of United States competitor Cypress Semiconductor, the two companies said in a joint statement.

Infineon said it would pay $23.85 (€21.35) per share, a 46% premium on Cypress' average share price between mid-April and the end of May. That amounts to a €9 billion enterprise value, by far the most significant acquisition in the Bavarian firm's 20-year history.

3 June 2019; DW: A group of lawyers have asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open a case against the European Union over its migration policy, according to a request submitted on Monday.

Although ICC prosecutors are already gathering evidence about crimes against refugees in Libya, the document goes a step further by arguing that the EU and member states are also largely to blame for migrant deaths on land and at sea.

What are the allegations against the EU?

3 June 2019; DW: Andrea Nahles has announced her resignation as leader of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) and its parliamentary group, saying she wanted to give the party the chance to elect the next leader in an orderly way after disastrous European election results.

PARIS, June 3. /TASS/: The Council of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) on Monday will discuss the preparation of Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, and determine the countries that will host the 2019 and 2020 World Club Championships.

The meeting of the FIFA Council will be held in Paris on June 3. It precedes the congress of the international federation, the main event of which will be electing the organization’s president. The Congress will be held on June 5, the only contender for the post is the current head of FIFA Gianni Infantino.

MOSCOW, June 3. /TASS/: Eighteen people have been hospitalized following explosions at the Kristall factory in the Russian town of Dzerzhinsk in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Viktor Yakutsenko told TASS.

"116 people were injured, with 18 of them hospitalized," he said at a video conference in the Ministry on Monday.

On Saturday, June 1, a number of explosions went off in a TNT workshop of the Kristall factory, a fire ensued. The authorities declared a state of emergency in the town and the nearby villages.