Europe

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is marking the fifth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine by visiting the Black Sea peninsula.

Putin on Monday attended the launch of new power plants in Crimea, part of Moscow’s efforts to upgrade the region’s infrastructure. Ukraine has cut off energy supplies to the peninsula and blocked shipments of Crimea-bound cargo via its territory after Moscow annexed the region in 2014.

PARIS, March 17 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to take "strong decisions" to prevent weekly "Yellow Vest" protests from turning violent after rioters ran amok across Paris on Saturday.

"I want us to very precisely analyze things and as quickly as possible take strong, complementary decisions so this doesn't happen again," the president told ministers late on Saturday.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The manifesto that the presumed New Zealand shooter published is shorter and “more sloppy” than the one written by a Norwegian right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in 2011, but expresses similar sentiments, a Swedish terror expert said Friday.

Magnus Ranstorp of the Swedish National Defense College says the shooter is against mass immigration and “has to some extent the same themes as (Anders Behring) Breivik,” who posted his 1,500-page manifesto online before carrying out his deadly attacks.

17 Mar 2019; DW: A "Leave Means Leave" pro-Brexit march to London began its two-week, 435-kilometer (270-mile) journey from Sunderland on Saturday.

The group of about 100-200 hardcore Brexiteers was led by former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage, who has accused politicians of "betraying the will of the people."

17 Mar 2019; DW: Thousands of people marched through the streets of Madrid on Saturday in support of Catalan politicians and activists who are currently on trial for attempting to secede from Spain in October 2017.

Organizers said 120,000 people attended the march, but police estimated about 18,000 people attended the first major separatist march in the Spanish capital.

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Sunday he is due to hold a meeting with US Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams on March 19 in Rome.

"The talks will take place on March 19. This is a scheduled contact, this is not a spontaneous meeting," the high-ranking diplomat said.

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. A new multifunctional laboratory module Nauka (Science), which is expected to be launched to the International Space Station in 2020, will be transported from Moscow’s Khrunichev space research center to the RSC Energia for pre-flight tests in August, Dmitry Rogozin, chief of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, wrote on his official Twitter account on Saturday.

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. The Northern design bureau has started developing the construction documentation for modernized frigates of Project 22350M capable of carrying up to 48 Kalibr cruise missiles, a source in the defense and production sector told TASS on Sunday.

"The Northern design bureau has completed designing frigates of Project 22350M and is now developing working design documentation for these vessels in line with the customer’s tactical and technical order," the source said.

BUCHAREST, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The European People's Party (EPP) will fight for the same living standard all over Europe, said Manfred Weber, EPP candidate for the presidency of the European Commission(EC), here on Saturday.

MOSCOW, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Around 1.7 million Syrian refugees registered in foreign countries are hoping to return to their homeland, the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Refugee Migration Monitoring said Saturday.

"It is estimated that 1,712,264 Syrians in nine countries expressed their desire to return back to their homeland. Since September 30, 2015, in total 389,735 Syrians have returned to their homes from abroad," the center said in a daily bulletin published by the Russian Defense Ministry.