Europe

MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/: The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, voted for approval of Denis Manturov to the position of the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Industry and Trade.

Members of the relevant State Duma’s committee for industry and trade unanimously recommended the lower house to approve Manturov to the position at their extraordinary meeting yesterday.

MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/: The UN Secretariat has failed to take an balanced stance on the developments in the Ukrainian city of Vinnitsa, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

When asked to comment on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s statments about developments in Vinnitsa, she said that "contrary to the requirements of the UN Charter, the Secretariat fails to take an equidistant stance, which is what one would expect from the secretariat of the most reputable international organization, particularly designed to help resolve disputes."

MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin relieved Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov of his post as deputy prime minister and appointed him to head the State Space Corporation Roscosmos, according to the presidential decrees posted on the Kremlin’s website on Friday.

"In accordance with subsection ‘e’ of article 83 of the Russian Constitution, Yury Ivanovich Borisov is hereby relieved from the post of deputy chairman of the government of the Russian Federation," one of the decrees reads.

MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 4,457 over the past day to 18,480,934, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Friday.

This is the highest number of daily infections since May 28, 2022, when 4,556 infections were recorded.

As many as 1,266 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, 1.3% fewer than in the previous day. The number of hospitalized patients declined in 38 regions, while in 36 other regions the figure increased. A day earlier, 1,283 people were rushed to hospitals.

BRUSSELS, July 15. /TASS/: The European Commission (EC) offered a new package of sanctions against Moscow, including the embargo on Russian gold imports, and extend them until next January, the EC said in the statement on Friday.

"Therefore, we are proposing today to tighten our hard-hitting EU sanctions against the Kremlin, enforce them more effectively and extend them until January 2023," EC President Ursula von der Leyen said.

GENEVA, July 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The World Health Organization said it would reconvene its expert monkeypox committee on July 21 to decide whether the outbreak constitutes a global health emergency.

A second meeting of the WHO’s emergency committee on monkeypox will be held, with the UN health agency now aware of 9,200 cases in 63 countries at the last update issued Tuesday.

A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic.

PARIS, July 15 (Reuters) - The UAE is working to send an ambassador to Tehran as it seeks to rebuild bridges with Iran, the president's diplomatic adviser said on Friday, adding that the idea of a confrontational approach to Iran was not something Abu Dhabi supported.

The UAE has been trying to balance between superpower ally Washington, new friend Israel and old adversary Iran as it seeks to avoid regional tension that could torpedo its economic ambitions while at the same time building up the Gulf state's military capabilities.

BERLIN, July 15 (Reuters) - German conservative politicians have revived debate on extending the life of the country's three remaining nuclear power plants, and polls show a rise in public support for the energy source in the face of a possible cut-off of Russian gas.

But an extension is highly sensitive for Germany's ruling Greens party, which grew out of the 1970s anti-nuclear movement.

LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - The five remaining contenders to be Britain's next prime minister will go head to head in the first of three televised debates on Friday, hoping a good performance will boost their chances in a battle that so far has no clear frontrunner.

An initial field of 11 challengers has been whittled down following two days of votes by lawmakers from the ruling Conservative Party, but no individual has yet emerged as the obvious successor to Boris Johnson who announced he was stepping down following a series of scandals.

LEIRIA, Portugal/LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Hundreds more people were evacuated from their homes as wildfires blistered land in France, Spain and Portugal on Friday, while officials in Europe issued health warnings for the heatwave in the coming days.

More than 1,000 firefighters, supported by water-bomber aircraft, have battled since Tuesday to control two blazes in southwestern France that have been fanned by scorching heat, tinder-box conditions and strong winds.