Europe

9 May 2019; DW: The United States ambassador to Germany on Thursday accused the German government of pursuing a hypocritical policy toward the NATO military alliance.

"It seems hypocritical to say that we should reform NATO while not aiming for the 2%," Richard Grenell told Bild newspaper, referring to an alliance goal of spending at least 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.

9 May 2019; DW: The world would need 2.8 Earths if everyone burned through natural resources as greedily as the average person in the EU, according to a new study. Its authors say drastic action is needed to avert a crisis.

People in the European Union use up natural resources far more quickly than the rate at which nature can replenish those resources, a study by the World Wide Fund and Global Footprint Network found Thursday.

London, May 8; GANASHAKTI: Hollywood actress Pamela Anderson met Julian Assange at the Belmarsh high-security prison here on Tuesday. It was the first high-profile visit by a celebrity since the 47-year-old WikiLeaks founder was booted out from Ecuadorian embassy last month."

He does not deserve to be in a supermax prison. He has never committed a violent act, he's an innocent person," CNN quoted Anderson as saying.

MOSCOW, May 8. /TASS/: Russia’s strategic bombers Tupolev-160 and Tupolev-95MS are being equipped with new instruments that will let them carry the latest types of cruise missiles, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a distance conference on Wednesday.

"Number one question on the agenda concerns the strategic bombers Tupolev-160 and Tupolev-95MS. Currently they are being equipped with new instruments that will let them use advanced air-launched cruise missiles," he said.

7 May 2019; AFP: Pope Francis urged the Balkans to embrace its patchwork of faiths and ethnicities during his visit to North Macedonia on Tuesday, where he delivered prayers and speeches that kept returning to the legacy of an illustrious Skopje native: Mother Teresa.

The pontiff was welcomed with yellow billboards and buses bearing pictures of his smiling face during his one-day stop in the mainly Orthodox Christian country.

MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/: The Aeroflot airline company has started making compensation payments to passengers of the plane that crashed at Moscow Sheremetyevo airport on May 5, a source in the company told TASS.

"We have transferred compensations in the amount of 2 mln rubles [about $30,650] to four of the injured currently in hospitals, 1 mln rubles [about $15,325] to the passenger who refused hospitalization," the source said.

Overall, the company has paid 9 mln rubles ($137,942) in compensation so far.

MOSCOW, May 8. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Van der Bellen in Sochi on May 15, the Kremlin press service said in a statement.

"On May 15, Sochi will host talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, who will make a working visit to Russia," the statement reads.

The two leaders are expected to discuss bilateral relations in various areas and the prospects for their future, as well as pressing global and regional issues.

MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/: Russian runner Ksenia Savina has been disqualified for 12 years for violating anti-doping rules, the press service of the All-Russia Athletic Federation (RAF) said on Tuesday.

Her coach Alexey Savin was also disqualified for four years for doping.

Savina's disqualification starts on 6 May 2019. Her coach's disqualification started on 3 April 2019.

8 May 2019; DW: Germany's first real-time test of electrified trucks fed via overhead cables amid heavy motorway traffic has begun near Frankfurt. The Environment Ministry hopes the project could contribute to climate-neutral haulage.

8 May 2019; DW: A new documentary dives deep into the far-right scene: "Kleine Germanen" explores how parents indoctrinate their children with their extremist ideology. There are some 20,000 kids affected by the phenomenon.

The title sounds innocuous, but the realities portrayed in Kleine Germanen ("Little Germans") are terrifying. In their documentary, filmmakers Frank Geiger and Mohammad Farokhmanesh explore how neo-Nazi parents transmit their ideology to their children.