Europe

MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/: The Syrian government forces' artillery has shelled the positions of armed groups to the south and west of Aleppo, Syrian News Channel reported on Tuesday.

Syrian forces shelled Aleppo's suburbs Kfar-Hamra and Halsa and the Rashidin-5 neighborhood controlled by militants.

Militants earlier opened fire from multiple rocket launcher systems at the Masaqin al-Sabil neighborhood in Aleppo, injuring several civilians.

MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/: A total of 175 forest fires have been extinguished in Russia on the territory of 50,702 hectares in the last 24 hours, the press service of the Aerial Forest Protection Service said on Tuesday.

"According to regional forestry departments, 175 forest fires were extinguished on the territory of 50,702 hectares over the last 24 hours. As of 12am Moscow time on 7 May 2019, 85 wildfires continue blazing on the territory of 61,393 hectares. Firefighting efforts are underway," the press service said.

KIEV, May 7. /TASS/: Ukrainians are laying flowers at the Russian embassy in Kiev in memory of the victims of Sunday’s Sukhoi Superjet 100 plane crash at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, an embassy official told TASS on Tuesday.

"People are bringing flowers, icon lamps and notes of condolences," the official said.

7 May 2019; DW: For the second week in a row, tens of thousands of people took part in protests in Prague and other cities across the Czech Republic on Monday to protest against Prime Minister Andrej Babis and his newly appointed justice minister.

Marie Benesova was appointed as the head of the Justice Ministry last Tuesday after her predecessor resigned. Benesova will now have significant control over prosecutions, including a criminal case involving Babis.

MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/: The Russian Public Opinion Research Center discovered in a poll, which TASS has at its disposal, that almost half of Russians (48%) could barely imagine their life without the Internet.

MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/: Artillery Marshal Vladimir Mikhalkin firework division is in the final stages of prepping to launch fireworks, which will be fired in Moscow to mark Victory Day on May 9.

The Western Military District’s press service told reporters on Monday that this year the fireworks will go on for 10 minutes and 10,000 bursts will be fired. "72 firework launchers and 18 artillery pieces will fire 30 rounds of fireworks over 10 minutes according to a specially devised automated system," the District said.

MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/: AO Mercedes-Benz RUS, the Russian dealer of Mercedes-Benz, will recall 1,600 S-class sedans in Russia due to problems with functioning of the driver assistance package, the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology (Rosstandart) reports on Monday.

The recall will cover automobiles sold from March 2017 to June 2018, the regulator says.

"The function of detecting absence of hands on the steering wheel may not conform to the specification in certain vehicles with the Ditronic Plus and the driver assistant," the federal agency reports.

ROVANIEMI /Finland/, May 6. /TASS/: US officials understand that there can be no military solution to the Venezuela issue because the consequences of such a scenario would be devastating, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following a meeting with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Monday.

LONDON, May 5 (Xinhua): Britain's participation in the International Horticultural Exhibition in Beijing will help strengthen Britain-China partnership on green development and contribute more to achieving a greener future in the world, said a senior British official.

Antonia Romeo, Permanent Secretary of Britain's Department for International Trade, told Xinhua in an interview that Britain has been "enthusiastic" in its contributions to the expo.

LONDON, May 6 (Xinhua): Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, has given birth to a boy, the Duke of Sussex announced here on Monday.

Prince Harry said the baby was delivered at 05:26 BST and both the mother and baby were doing "incredibly well."

He added that they were "absolutely thrilled" and they were still thinking about names for the infant.

"This little thing is absolutely to die for, so I'm just over the moon," the new father said.

The Buckingham Palace said the baby weighed about 3.2 kg and the royal family have been informed.