Europe

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/: The implementation of the chief of European diplomacy Josep Borrell’s idea of creating a European army will not improve security on the continent, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

"We know that Mr. Borrel is not a proponent of diplomatic methods of settling disputes. Contrary to the office he takes he constantly and publicly demonstrates his commitment to acting from the position of strength," Peskov told the media on Monday. He recalled Borrell’s statement to the effect the problem of Ukraine should be settled on the battlefield.

GENEVA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) reiterated here on Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic "is far from over."

"As I said yesterday, the pandemic is far from over. And even as we continue to fight it, we face the task of restoring essential health services, with 90 percent of member states reporting disruption to one or more essential health services," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Addressing the 75th World Health Assembly, Ghebreyesus said the COVID-19 pandemic had demonstrated why the world needed the WHO.

GENEVA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Assembly (WHA), the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the General Committee of the WHA on Monday seperately decided not to include in its agenda a proposal on Taiwan's participation in the annual assembly as an observer.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been shadowed by career-threatening scandal for months — but so far he has escaped unscathed.

This week he faces one more threat to his political future: a comprehensive report into lockdown-breaching parties in government offices that is expected to be published within days.

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for “maximum” sanctions against Russia during a virtual speech Monday to corporate executives, government officials and other elites on the first day of the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos.

He said sanctions need to go further to stop Russia’s aggression, including an oil embargo, blocking all of its banks and cutting off trade with Russia completely. He said that it’s a precedent that would work for decades to come.

(AP) --- When Vladimir Putin announced the invasion of Ukraine, war seemed far away from Russian territory. Yet within days the conflict came home — not with cruise missiles and mortars but in the form of unprecedented and unexpectedly extensive volleys of sanctions by Western governments and economic punishment by corporations.

Three months after the Feb. 24 invasion, many ordinary Russians are reeling from those blows to their livelihoods and emotions. Moscow’s vast shopping malls have turned into eerie expanses of shuttered storefronts once occupied by Western retailers.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian soldier who pleaded guilty to killing a Ukrainian civilian was sentenced to life in prison on Monday in the first war crimes trial since Moscow invaded three months ago, unleashing a brutal conflict that has led to accusations of atrocities, left thousands dead, driven millions from their homes and flattened whole swaths of cities.

22 May 2022; MEMO: Israeli Special Forces are said to be fighting against Russian troops in Ukraine, Sama news agency reported on Sunday. An Israeli TV channel aired footage of the soldiers, confirming earlier reports that Israel is involved in the fight against Russia.

ENERGODAR, May 22. /TASS/: Energodar Mayor Andrey Shevchik and his two guards were wounded in an explosion, a local law enforcer told TASS on Sunday.

"Energodar Mayor Andrey Shevchik and his two guards were wounded in an explosion suffered wounds in an explosion in the entrance way of his house today," the person said. "A homemade explosive device was planted inside an electric wiring box in the entrance way."

The law enforcer said Shevchik had repeatedly received threats from Ukraine. The blast detonated as the mayor entered his apartment building.

MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in the Eurasian Economic Forum in Bishkek at the end of May by video link, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS on Sunday.

"He will take part by video link," he said, when asked if Putin will participate.