Europe

MOSCOW, May 5. /TASS/: The decree of the Russian government introducing messenger user identification by phone number takes effect starting Sunday, May 5. A respective document was signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on November 6, 2018.

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Pope Francis is visiting Bulgaria, the European Union’s poorest country and one that taken a hard line against migrants, a stance that conflicts with the pontiff’s view that reaching out to vulnerable people is a moral imperative.

On a two-day trip that began Sunday, Francis plans to tour a refugee center and dive into the Vatican’s complicated relations with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. He will then have daylong stop Tuesday in neighboring North Macedonia, the first by a pope.

LONDON, May 04 (APP): Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Mohammad Nafees Zakaria has urged Pakistani Diaspora to pay due attention to promotion of Urdu language and literature and keep the coming generation intact with their roots through the dynamics of Urdu literature especially poetry.

MINSK, May 4. /TASS/: Belarus reiterates its commitment to constructive cooperation with the European Union on the project for the construction of a nuclear plant in its territory and deems Lithuania’s claims as ungrounded, Belarusian foreign ministry spokesman, Anatoly Glaz, said on Saturday.

CHISINAU, May 4. /TASS/: Moldova’s leadership so far has no consolidated position on the issue of the withdrawal of Russian troops from the non-recognized republic of Transnistria, Moldovan Defense Minister Eugen Struza said on Saturday.

KIEV, May 4. /TASS/: Ukraine’s president-elect, Vladimir Zelensky has said his team is looking at how to respond to Russia’s issuing its passports to people living in Donbass.

"We have several approaches, so to say. We must be creative, quick and smart on that matter, the way we are as a matter of fact. So, we will think of that and announce everything later. I will come out and announce - I have no secrets," Zelensky said on Monday before a meeting with the Verkhovna Rada (national parliament) speaker, leaders of parliamentary factions and lawmakers’ groups.

LONDON, May 3 (Xinhua): Researchers have found a new way to design solar cells that could drive down manufacturing costs and even make them more efficient, says a study released on Friday by the University of Sheffield.

A team of researchers from the university and the technology company Power Roll demonstrated that by coating opposing walls of micro-grooves with different electrical contacts, and then filling the grooves with a solution-processable semiconductor, it was possible to create a new type of back-contacted solar cell.

KIEV, May 4. /TASS/: Ukraine’s president-elect Vladimir Zelensky has said he will offer the country’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) to hold his inauguration ceremony on May 19. He was talking to reporters on Saturday ahead of his meeting with the Verkhovna Rada speaker, leaders of parliamentary factions and lawmakers’ groups.

"At the meeting, we will suggest [holding the inauguration] on May 19, and then we’ll see," Zelensky said.

Washington, May 4 (AFP) At USD 70 per ton of carbon dioxide, a carbon tax would be the most efficient means of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, according to an International Monetary Fund report published Friday.

But for the moment, carbon taxes remain unpopular, particularly in France, where plans to increase it to 55 euros (or USD 61.60) from 44.60 euros recently ignited the Yellow Vest protest movement.

YEKATERINBURG, May 4. /TASS/: Five military servicemen have been wounded after the ammunition exploded at a shooting range in Russia’s Sverdlovsk Region, one of them died of wounds, the press service of the Central Military District told reporters on Saturday.