Europe

ATHENS, May 11 (Xinhua): Dialogue between different civilizations is important for world peace, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos has said.

"Global peace depends on the dialogue between civilizations," Pavlopoulos told Xinhua ahead of his state visit to China on May 12-16, during which he will also attend the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) in Beijing.

The president said that his country sees the CDAC as the best opportunity to underline how great the value of dialogue between civilizations is.

GENEVA, May 10 (Xinhua): Current global tensions are a major setback for sustainable development, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres said at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday.

"Significant obstacles have emerged in our efforts to harness the positive force of globalization for sustainable development," said Guterres in a historic address before the WTO's General Council.

11 May 2019; DW: After 12 days of negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations, countries have agreed to treat plastic as hazardous waste. Germany is considering a ban that would go even further.

Almost every country in the world, except the United States, agreed to a deal on Friday that would sharply reduce the amount of plastic being washed into the world's oceans.

MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/: Ust-Luga, a port in the Russian northwestern Leningrad region, has resumed shipping Russian export crude compliant with GOST (All Union State Standard) requirements, the Russian Energy Ministry said on Friday.

"Earlier, on May 8, on spec oil was transported to the metering station of Ust-Luga port. On May 9, it started to flow into a tank farm for being loaded onto tankers," the ministry added.

BARNAUL, May 10. /TASS/: Relatives identified the bodies of three tourists who died in an avalanche in the Altai Republic on Monday, a representative of the regional department of Russia’s Investigative Committee told TASS on Friday.

"The bodies of the three dead that were brought to Gorno-Altaisk, have been identified," the agency’s source said.

MOSCOW, May 9. /TASS/: A ten-minute fireworks show illuminated Moscow’s skies on Thursday night to mark the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War over Nazi Germany with more than 10,000 salvos.

Journalists were told earlier at the Western Military District’s press service that Artillery Marshal Vladimir Mikhalkin firework division would perform the fireworks show in Moscow on May 9.

The fireworks were launched from 72 saluting guns and 18 artillery guns, and 50 kinds of fireworks were used.

MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has held a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Edouard Philippe, the Russian cabinet’s press service said in a statement on Friday.

The parties "discussed pressing issues concerning Russian-French interaction, including trade, economic and investment cooperation," the statement reads. Medvedev and Philippe also talked about a schedule for future contacts between the two countries’ governments.

According to the press service, the telephone call was initiated by France.

MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/: Russian voyager and survivalist Fedor Konyukhov has finished his solo rowboat voyage on board Akros, crossing the South Pacific from New Zealand to Chile for 154 days 13 hours and 13 minutes, the Ocean Rowing Society said on Friday.

"On May 09, 2019 at approx. 18:00UTC Fedor crossed the finish line of Diego Ramirez Longitude (68.68W) within vicinity of land and with this has officially completed his row across the South Pacific Ocean from west to east," the statement says adding that it took the Russian traveler 154 days 13 hours and 37 minutes to do it.

10 May 2019; MEMO: A Saudi vessel that had been due to load arms in France left the country’s Le Havre port without its cargo of weapons and is now sailing towards Santander in Spain, according to ship tracking data, a local official and a lawyer.

Reuters reported that two French human rights groups yesterday sought to block the loading of weapons onto the ship through a legal filing, arguing the cargo contravened an international arms treaty.

10 May 2019; DW: A runaway truck whose driver had died at the wheel was brought to a halt on the German Autobahn by another daring driver and police. Other truck drivers took measures to protect nearby road users.

A courageous truck driver and police joined forces on Wednesday evening to bring a runaway 40-ton vehicle to a halt on the German Autobahn, police said.