Europe

MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/: Russia’s Proton-M carrier rocket with Yamal-601 communications satellite will be rolled out on a launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on May 27, a source in the Russian space industry told TASS on Monday.

"A commission at the Baikonur space center made a decision to roll out the Proton-M carrier rocket with Yamal-601 satellite to the launch pad on May 27," the source said.

LONDON (AP) — British Environment Secretary Michael Gove on Sunday became the eighth lawmaker to enter the race to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May, as other contenders staked out uncompromising positions on Brexit.

Gove said Sunday that “I can confirm that I will be putting my name forward to be prime minister of this country” when May steps down as Conservative leader on June 7.

Other candidates for the top job include former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and ex-House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for an early national election following the defeat of his party at the European Parliament elections.

Tsipras said from the Syriza party offices that “the result does not rise to our expectations ... I will not ignore it or quit.”

BRUSSELS (AP) — The Latest on elections for the European Parliament (all times local):

3 a.m.

The leader of Italy’s right-wing League Party, Matteo Salvini, calculates that populist and nationalist parties will control at least 150 seats in the new 751-seat European Parliament.

BRATISLAVA, May 25. /TASS/: The Finnish national ice hockey team defeated on Saturday the squad from Russia 1-0 in the semifinals match of the 2019 IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) World Championship in Slovakia.

The match between the Russian and Finnish ice hockey teams at the 10,000-seat capacity Ondrej Nepela Arena in Bratislava was attended by 9,085 spectators.

The score was opened in the 51st minute with Finnish forward Marko Anttila putting the puck into the opponents’ goal.

BRUSSELS, May 26. /TASS/: NATO continues to demand the release of Ukrainian sailors and warships detained in Russia in the wake of the November 2018 Kerch Strait incident, a NATO official informed TASS on Sunday, citing the verdict of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

"NATO has made repeatedly clear that there was no justification for Russia’s use of military force against Ukrainian ships and military personnel. We continue to call on Russia to release the Ukrainian sailors and ships without delay," the official stated.

BERLIN, May 26. /TASS/: Political will is needed to rescue the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Welt Am Sonntag newspaper published on Sunday.

"There is less and less time left, but it is still not late, the treaty can be saved," Stoltenberg said. "In 1987 Moscow showed that it can destroy cruise missiles within several weeks," he noted.

MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/: Syrian government forces have regained control over the city of Kafr Nabuda in the north of the Hama governorate located some 15 kilometers off the Hama-Aleppo highway, SANA news agency reported on Sunday.

According to SANA, battered illegal armed groups are retreating eastwards, to the settlement of al-Hobeit.

LUGANSK, May 26. /TASS/: A Ukrainian drone that was on a reconnaissance mission near the village of Schastye in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) was downed by LPR militias, Ivan Filiponenko, a spokesman for the LPR’s defense ministry, said on Sunday.

LYON, France (AP) — French police on Saturday hunted a suspect believed to have deposited a paper bag containing a device that exploded Friday, wounding 13 people on a busy pedestrian street in the city of Lyon.

France’s counter-terrorism prosecutor, Remy Heitz, said an investigation has been opened for “attempted murderer in relation with a terrorist undertaking” and “criminal terrorist association.”